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Bokrug

Bokrug (a.k.a. The Shaman)

Young Shaman on a Journey to flee from a nightmare monster in the lake near his village

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

Shamanistic body paint/tattoos

Tortle shaman dreaming of a drowned god

View Character Profile
Age
17
Date of Birth
101
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Orange
Hair
Bald
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Green
Height
5,5
Weight
300lb

A Tortle's Tale - 26 - Salvation

PYRAMID I got poisoned on the way into the pyramid. The words of Thillivern linger in my mind. If he dies, the last key is mine. Do I risk it? Take it back by force? Perhaps this wouldn't even be necessary - Jefferey's illness is getting worse by the minute, and this place is swarming with snake monsters.   We fought with the snake creatures. It was worse than expected. Not even a partial transformation into my horrible form let us defeat the snakes. We left Jefferey as we ran. He was taken. I know I could have saved him, but something was holding me back. The depths of my mind seemed to whisper to me. "One. step. closer... ".   Jefferey is gone. Had I not gotten poisoned, I might have been able to take the key back from Thillivern. Instead, we're mounting a rescue operation for Jefferey. Maybe one of the others will also get taken, so I should keep my eye on Thillivern.   DEATH OF A FRIEND The rescue failed. It turns out the snakes were planning to sacrifice Jefferey. They succeeded. Something in me shattered as the knife came down. Everything seemed so clear to me then. All was silent for a brief moment. Time refused to move. A blade pierced Jefferey's heart. Then came chaos. 'Something' consumed Jefferey. His body possessed by some ancient evil. He murdered the snake creatures and teleported away. Was this their intention? What god kills their followers like that? Is Jefferey still alive? We put such thoughts aside as we heard screams for help. The kidnapped villagers were in an adjacent room. We freed them and left. I had no more intentions of taking back the key by force.   THE WAY BACK We made it back to the shore without issue. Rea was waiting for us there with two ships, so there was more than enough room for all.   I've been spending the days back fishing and helping around on the ship. The events at the temple will not leave my mind. Several years of unyielding hatred were taken from me in the blink of an eye. Was it deserved? Maybe he had been trying to amend for his betrayal. It certainly seemed as though he was, in the last few months. Perhaps I should have better explained why the key was so important. Maybe he would have understood. After all, he had no idea of the grim transformation my body was undergoing. The only one aware of this is Thillivern. The only one consciously torturing me was him.   Despite how much I'd been wishing for Jefferey's demise over the last few years, I feel very hollow. It feels unjust. If I was to have my eventual revenge, I wanted him to know why he got it coming. It's also unclear whether he is gone for good or simply possessed by some spirit. His body surely should have died. Perhaps this was the doing of his old patron?   THILLIVERN We made it back to Wulvaz without too many issues. Once ashore, I immediately demanded back my ring from Thillivern. The man revealed the cruellest joke. The chest with gems he had given me had a blue gem. He pulverized the gem and it turned into my key. I recall the words again. "Look for the blue on my body". My body and mind had been tormented all this time for no reason at all. The key was in my possession. It had been for a long time. The way seems clear to me now. My salvation is my own to take.   SALVATION Years of unending nightmare and horror end today. I swam to the underwater temple in the forbidden depths. I do not know how long it has taken me. It could have been weeks. It could have been months, maybe even years. In the unending deep, all I could do was move forward.   The keys fit the door perfectly. A voice demands me to enter. I demand freedom. The voice tells me I will get my freedom - All I have to do is enter. A little whisper in my mind screams at me to leave. To run and never come back. Would I, after everything it cost me to get here? No. The only way out is forward.   THE FINAL BETRAYAL This place should not be. All tentacles and eyes. Stairs and doors in places they have no reason to be. Waters and portals. Mountains of gold and treasure. Hallways devoid of anything- No light, no existence at all. Life has no place here. The terrible voice is urging me onward. The little whisper in my mind is crying.   May the others forgive me. I have betrayed all things living.

A Tortle's Tale - 25 - Blue

A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED I spent a few days preparing the ritual dance for Titania. After the last few years, it was amazing to spend some time doing shamanic work. I went into the forest and meditated on the performance; I interpreted my father's instructions to make the dance more fitting, I perfected the costume and practised the overall performance.   The evening itself has been very entertaining. I just ate some of Jefferey's own cooked food, which tasted fantastic. My own performance was exceptionally well received. Thillivern told a story of creation, of brothers and war. Khourad also performed some sort of dance; although his was more of a fighting demonstration. All in all, we performed well enough, and Titania will probably return us to our time after tonight.   CRUELTY The last few minutes have been very confusing; I went from desert at midday to forest at night. Titania spoke of sending me to my friends, which she did, but they claimed I had forgotten all of last week. I could see my own handwriting in the journal to prove them correct. Titania then appeared to grant us some requests; not too grand mind you. She taunted me with the key, summoning it and vanishing it at will. "This would be too easy", she said. Say that again when I murder you and your chosen, witch. She gave me a strange shield, with an eye, when I asked for a better means of defence. I shouldn't have asked for anything, this shield mocks me and my curse. Jefferey told her to 'return my memories', and indeed my head is filled with memories of a strange fae realm. Of course, with her power, these memories might as well be fabricated. Before vanishing with a cackle, she again summoned the key to my salvation. This being is evil. The cruel nature of her actions only further my conviction.   BLUE We continue the search for the lost people of Thillivern's village. At night, a strange blue mist appeared. I scouted ahead and found a place without mist, so we will head there for now. The blue mist reminds me of words spoken by Thillivern several months ago, about the location of the ring. Perhaps I can find a way out of this cursed form yet.   We've been travelling to the mistless place for two days, and Jefferey and Khourad have been acting strange. They speak of blue monkeys and act like fools. We encountered a massive undead lizard creature, but Jefferey somehow banished it while speaking of his monkeys.   Today, after three days of walking, we see a strange pyramid structure. Jefferey has fallen ill. Let us press on.

A Tortle's Tale - 24 - Ten Years in the Past

BACK AND GONE AGAIN A few days have passed in this realm, and I am starting to worry. What if something happened to the second key in Thillivern's possession? After some investigating, Thillivern's chest with gems also contains a letter from a 'friend' of Thillivern, telling him to trust others more. It seems aimed toward me. I can't help but feel this is some sort of ploy of his to get me to 'trust' the others more. Regardless, I've learned some basic ways to use the horrid form to my advantage, and this should be enough for now. I will return to our own plane.   Returning did not go as planned. I went back and immediately some fae woman appeared from butterflies. She told me something akin to "I will take you to your friends" and sent me to some other plane of existence. I vaguely recognize this woman as the one who now holds Jefferey's allegiance. Strange; the last time my patron transported my friends anywhere Jefferey attempted to murder me for it.   BACK THROUGH TIME After walking to someplace called 'The white poplar", I found my companions inside having a jolly good time. Thillivern explained the situation to me; We are now ten years in the past, and this realm reduces our inhibitions. Jefferey has to learn how to dance for us to return to the present, or so they say. Why do we have to spend all this effort to go back to our present? Because Thillivern doesn't want to leave his wife behind. I can't even protest because Thillivern is holding my key hostage. Khourad and Jefferey seem to just be going along for the fun of it. It seems like these people have completely forgotten what they've done to me, and would rather I just forget about it too. A bit difficult to forget when you still refuse to return the stolen item. Anyway, in my frustration, I beat up Khourad. He barely put up a fight.   Thillivern approached me to ask what happened in the gray plane. He also promised to return my key once we get back to our timeline and get back to the main continent. I pray that he does not stray from this path. One more detour or change of plans and I will take back what's mine by force.   NO NEED TO DANCE The next day I spent aimlessly wandering the elven city. There's a prestigious wizard school, but I cannot enter it. A shame, perhaps I could find some information here.   Back at the inn, the fae woman Titania explained to us that we do not need to wait for Jefferey to learn how to dance. All we have to do is perform before the 'Court of Stars' and she will return us to our time. I've decided to perform a ritual dance, one thought to me by my father. Perhaps I can still somehow make him proud by performing this well.

A Tortle's Tale - 22 - Beneath the Sands

THE DUNGEON BENEATH THE SANDS The first several hours in the dungeon have been easy. We find strange statues of foreign gods, but nothing of value. Jefferey was attacked by a mummified zombie. He got a weird disease that prevented his body from healing. We healed the strange disease by repairing one of the broken statues.   After moving through several trapped rooms and breaking down doors, we found a Sphinx with riddles. I found the answers to each riddle and the sphinx opened the doors.   The room behind the sphinx hid two undead snake monsters. These creatures quickly downed Jefferey and Khourad, but Thillivern and I defeated the monsters. In the room we found several cursed items, one of which has now permanently bound me to Jefferey with strange teleportation magic.   CURSED Khourad found another magical sword, which he will use. Thillivern also found a magical spear further down in some prison cells. I realise now how much of a curse this belt binding me to Jefferey is. Any plans I had for escaping once I found the second ring are gone now; He can simply teleport me back to the others. If I truly wish to escape my other curse, I have to deal with this one first.   Further down in the dungeon a trapped room robbed me of my consciousness. Here, again, I dreamed again of my form being changed into something monstrous. Something out of this world. A creature that should not be. I then awoke and faced my true curse in all its brutality; Even in the waking world, I retained this horrific form. Around me the others stood, and as quickly as I could I teleported myself to a different room in the dungeon. I managed to change myself back into my tortle self, yet the damage was already done. Thillivern understood the connection between this and the arm I showed earlier and asked what he could do to help me. I again told him the only way to remove this curse are the rings, which he still refused to give me. The mistrust of others outweighs my humanity. Jefferey and Khourad also seem to distrust me more now and probably realize the truth. Still, they do not wish to return what they stole to help me out of this curse. I wonder who truly are the monsters in this party.   THE GRAY WASTE After several more hours in the dungeon, we encountered a large tomb of sorts in a massive room. I opened the tomb. A monstrous Sphinx appeared and I was unable to move. It roared and roared, paralyzing me and the others. My body seemed to regress in age as it roared. After what seemed like an eternity, I could move again and teleported myself and Thillivern away.   Now here we find ourselves. In a gray waste, cold and cloaked in a dreary fog. There is no sign of a desert anyway, and Thillivern suggested we may have moved to a different plane of existence. To verify this, I cast banishment on Thillivern and he did not return after a minute.   I stand here alone in an empty land and see now that this is the perfect opportunity to somewhat learn to control my curse. There should be a way to use the horrific form to my advantage in combat, so I have decided to spend some days or weeks here training that. The cursed spirit Adaranth also mentioned that I may evade my patron's influence in other planes, so perhaps I can finally find rest in my sleep here.

A Tortle's Tale - 21 - Back into the Desert

CHURCH It's been a week or two since we've arrived in the city. The others have finally arrived. They talk of caves inside the mountain, where elementals hide. Very interesting.   We went to a church of sorts today. Khourad has apparently been in contact with some kind of demigod. By virtue of this, he is now some sort of 'chosen one' of that demigod. This god is all about destroying aberrations. I fear this might apply to me in due time. I feel my body changing.   The church gave us some magic items though, and Khourad gained a new sword. I hope he doesn't use it on me.   When we got back to the tavern, I approached Thillivern. I really need that ring back to prevent any further degradation of my body, so I showed him the true form of my arm. He still will not give me the ring. He gave me a strange chest filled with gems to show his trust in me. The contents of the chest are only valuable to him, but at least he also promised to defend me if Khourad decides to kill me.   RULERS OF NILLESH A few days after visiting the church, we were approached by some guards. They wanted us to follow them, so we did. They led us to the depths of some strange temple, where the rulers of Nillesh resided. All rulers were present; ten rulers and one to lead them. We also see a large egg in this room.   They explain who they are and who they think we are. The large ruler gives us some sort of badge, to prove we are friends of the city or something. I feel very uncomfortable with all this. I don't know these people, and they want to kill aberrations. They tell us of 3 yuan-ti tribes that might have taken Thillivern's villagers. Let us quickly depart from this city.   BACK INTO THE DESERT Jefferey spent a full day preparing for the journey. After all we've been through, he still doesn't understand how important rations are. When he finally bought what he needed, we left for the northern yuan-ti tribe. It will be around 30 days till we get there.   The journey is strange as always. Khourad attacks me at some point, and Jefferey attacks Khourad at another. It seems like I'm not the only one on the verge of madness.   I was transported into a strange glade, with glowing mushrooms and a beautiful pool. I bathed in the pool and gathered some mushrooms, which were later revealed to possess strange magical powers.   Today, around 3 weeks after we left for the northern yuan-ti tribe, we found an entrance to a dungeon. We will explore it. I hope no one tries to kill me this time.

A Tortle's Tale - 19 - City of Dragons

YUAN-TI On our way to the city, we encountered more of the snake-like people. They are called Yuan-ti by the nomads. An army of them. I used my foul magicks to summon giant tentacles, but magic does not work well on these snakes. Regardless, the fight went well and we defeated them. Thillivern skinned a couple of them for some reason. Frightening.   A SIGN OF WHAT'S TO COME We separated from the nomads. We will follow the river from here. Something is changing in me. My body changes shapes in my dreams. It all feels real. I have not forgotten the strange true shape of my arm. Worse might come. I must ask Thillivern for the ring.   LOSS OF MAGIC My ring of the ram has stopped working. My sword has become weaker. Even my thermal cube has stopped working. Days have been strange recently. Teleportation, scrying, mirrors everywhere. Today, an explosion of magic engulfed us. It did not damage us, but my magic items have stopped working.   CITY OF DRAGONS We have arrived in the city. It is full of dragon-people. They sent us to a part of the city for travellers which we cannot leave without permission. Here, we will wait for Jefferey and Khourad.

A Tortle's Tale - 18 - Ascana

BETRAYAL We did not get out, everything I worked for has been stolen from me. That accursed Jefferey let me do all the work in this place, only to attack me with his strongest spell when I was weakest. He stole my rings while I was bleeding to death, and right before I died he remembered that he still wanted to ask me questions before he murdered me. Foul creature. Apparantly he does not trust me with these rings because I haven't explained what they do enough. I keep telling them, if I get these rings I will be free. Free of nightmares, free of suffering, free of pain. Jefferey has become a slave to Adaranth, that damned spirit infests his mind and tells him not to trust me. I've been telling them from day one that I want these rings, but their 'trust' in me only lasted until I found both rings. Don't believe for a second that I trust these demons in humanoid skin.   Right before they executed me, I managed to escape and call for Thillivern. Within a minute he showed up, and he worked out a deal with these monsters. I could keep my life in exchange for one of the rings. Thank the gods I could still keep one. The nightmare would surely take my life if I lost both.   In a strange twist of fate, they let Thillivern keep the ring. He told us to let the situation calm down, and get together again in two years. They want me to prove I am 'trustworthy'. I don't doubt for a second that Thillivern trusts me, so he must be lying to convince the traitors. Surely he will return my ring in two years.   TRAVELS A couple of months have passed since the betrayal at Aboleth's rest. The nightmares have barely been bearable, but the promise of salvation in just two more years is keeping me going. I've been travelling as a merchant's guard, and have finally located the place where Jefferey claimed his first two victims. Galilea order of Mierendal, it's called. Seems like a cozy enough church village. I really had to hold myself back in order to not tell them of Jefferey's whereabouts. Part of me still can't believe what he's done, perhaps the constant whispering of Adaranth has driven him mad. The soul of my old friend must still be somewhere inside that devil. Although, according to these people he has brutally murdered two priests here in the past. Perhaps he has always been evil.   I've found Khourad's village, it's been about a year now since they attempted to assassinate me. He's working on repairing his village or something. I still don't really understand the role he plays in Jefferey's schemes. Is he influencing Jefferey or the other way around? Who's truly the evil one in all this? Or are we all taken by madness?   Aside from the nightmares and horrifying visaged tormenting me each day, travelling has been calm. I can't imagine the peace I would have been in had my 'friends' not stabbed me in the back. Just a few more months and I'm released from this curse. Sarnath, my home village, is also doing well. I'd love to say that they were happy to see me, but this was obviously not the case. Maybe it would have been different if I'd had the keys. Now I'm just the nightmare-bringer.   I'd been working as a fisherman in Mensfield when I got an invitation to Thillivern's wedding. Didn't see that one coming, but it's been nearly two years since I last saw him and a lot can happen in that time. Glad to see he's pursuing happiness, maybe if he'd given me the key I'd be happy too.   THILLIVERN'S WEDDING Thillivern's wedding started out fun. I'd gifted him the traditional wedding shrine ornamentation, and blessed their marriage as I would have done had I become shaman. It's important to remember that I need to prove to these people that I am trustworthy enough to regain what they stole from me. I immediately slipped up and insulted Jefferey when I first saw him. Luckily he didn't respond. I think part of him understand that robbing someone of what they spent 2 years working for is wrong. I managed to regain my composure and convincingly acted like I didn't despise him and Khourad. The alcohol must have helped.   When we went to the beach, however, something strange happened. Smoke filled the area, and people lost consciousness. When the smoke cleared we noticed a ship leaving harbour, and I immediately teleported Khourad and myself on board. It's likely a slaver's ship and they have taken several partygoers with them. We tried to free them, but they were stronger so we had to flee.   Thillivern told us to give up on saving his guests and to spend a few more months vacationing so he could go on a honeymoon. A bit peculiar if you ask me, but I guess he didn't know these people too well.   TO ASCANA We finally 'reunited' in Wulvaz, although I had been travelling together with the traitors for the last few months in hopes of regaining their trust. Thillivern made no indication of returning the second ring, so I asked him in private but he refused. According to him, it's still too soon. He can't fully trust me yet, and if he returns it now he feels like he'd be cheating the other two. Excuse me? You don't trust me enough to return my possessions? You don't want to offend the thieves? Perhaps Thillivern has also lost his mind. I can't even protest or get angry, because I need him to like me in order to get it back. I want to scream in frustration, but if I do Thillivern will think I'm not of sound enough mind to give me back the key. He wants to go to the other continent, Ascana, to stop the slavers. I really don't care about these slavers but I'll just come along. He probably won't return my ring if I don't do what he says.   We've now been travelling to Ascana for a good half a year, with another half left before us. I've spent a greater portion of my life waiting for him to return my ring than I spent adventuring with him. My restless nights have taken a greater toll on my body than any monster I've faced so far. Not to mention the strange condition of my arm, which I can luckily still hide. I asked Thillivern what his plan of returning the ring was, and he says he doesn't really have a plan. Moreover, if I keep asking about it he probably won't return it. It's been nearly three years!! Thillivern please, I understand that you elves are immortal and don't care about time but I really want to stop suffering. I never should have trusted him with this. If I'd given Jefferey and Khourad the rings I could have killed both and regained my rings by now. If he dies, I should '"look for the blue on his body". That will lead me to the ring. Give me the ring back soon, old friend. Don't make me consider killing you.   A GREAT DESERT ISLAND Ascana does not seem like a friendly place. It's a massive desert surrounded by jungle. We will be travelling to a city of dragon people. We came here with the nomadic people that resided in Wulvaz for a while. We will travel together for as long as we share the same road.   The desert has been bombarding us with sandstorms and strange mirages for the last few days. One morning we awoke to find a strange disc in the middle of camp, which the nomads avoided. Jefferey and Khourad wished to remind us all of their foolishness, so both jumped on the disc and disappeared. I sent a message to verify their condition, but both were still alive for some reason. We left them behind in their strange disc dimension and continue on our way.

A Tortle's Tale - 17 - Leviathans on the Walls

LEVIATHANS ON THE WALLS I opened the massive doors at the bottom of the lake, they led us to a strange temple. Walls painted with massive sea serpents and Leviathans. Some have eyes all over their bodies. Several weak doors attempt to barricade me from finding the second key. I shatter them without hesitation. Strange alien monstrosities of tentacle and brain stop me from progressing. I murder them without hesitation. Khourad and Jefferey hesitantly follow. They provide me no help. They complain. They are frightened. Do not worry weaklings, I will get us out here safely once I get my key. Jefferey the frail almost died during one fight. I got him back up. Worry not fragile man, I still need your water magic to get out of here. Jefferey died, but we could not find the body. He reappeared in another room after a few minutes. It is disturbing how often this man returns from the dead. I've built a barrier of braziers for myself to sleep in tonight. I see the way my distrustful companions look at me. I will take no risks this close to my salvation. THE SECOND KEY I move forward, my allies dawdle and waste time. The last unexplored room leads us to wraiths that I cannot defeat. Where is the key? We search. I attempt to flood an altar with blood in hopes of unlocking some secret.   Khourad found a secret hallway. Good job friend. I knew I could trust you. This room has the key. Freedom at last. Should I run? No, I need Jefferey to get out of this lake. Strange aliens attempt to steal the ring from me, but I kill them too. It all seems like a dream. I can't believe I have the keys. There are remains of a long-dead man in this room. He has holes for eyes in his skeleton. Thank you for giving me the second key, eye-skeleton. We take a short break so Adaranth can claim her magic item. Useless spirit only shows up when she can take something from us. It is alright. I have what I came for. Deliverance is near. We're leaving this place.

A Tortle's Tale - 16 - Mistrust II

A CALM FEW DAYS After arriving in Tel'dur, I immediately left the group to find a bathhouse. I really needed some time alone. I spent two days relaxing, spending some time training the shield and wandering the city. Eventually, I found Jefferey somewhere, and he informed me that the Djinns are probably a larger issue than we assumed them to be. Fair enough, we'll work on that. We bought a tuning fork at the request of the wizard of Wulvaz, and were soon on our way to the other continent.   BLIND, UNGRATEFUL, DISTRUSTFUL The journey to Mensfield was terrible. Early on, we destroyed the tuning fork. Like men possessed. I'm sure the other two blame me for this as well, although they have not openly admitted this. Jefferey and Khourad also contracted some strange disease and went blind along the way. Despite me leading them, the two blind men still openly discussed how I was responsible for wasting all that time travelling to Lunar Cove. It seems Jefferey's promise to help me get to Aboleth's rest in exchange for aiding Northpoint has faded from his mind.   No thanks to them, we made it safely to Mensfield. I led them to a temple and a priest cured them of their blindness. I also found a boat willing to take us to Waterway tomorrow. As we were silently enjoying a meal in a Mensfield tavern, a beautiful elven woman entered and approached Jefferey. She snapped her fingers and both of them disappeared in a cloud of butterflies. I contacted Jefferey, and apparantly nothing is wrong and to meet him in the harbour tomorrow. Strange. Very strange.   FROM SLAVE TO SLAVE I still dream of the eye. We found Jefferey, and he reluctantly told us what happened. He encountered something in the woods that would restore his hand and eye in exchange for his service. Jefferey's explanation wasn't too useful, but I gather one can leave their patron by enslaving themselves to another. He tells me less and less each passing day. Before, we trusted each other with things like this. Now he harbours mostly suspicion. Nevertheless, we left for Waterway by ship.   The sea was restless, which might have something to do with the Djinns if Jefferey is to be believed. Unbelievable large waves, massive whirlpools and soul-rotting rain. The voyage was no easy one.   We arrived safely in Waterway regardless. Jefferey was apparantly too broke to buy any rations, so he sold his magical staff. I don't recall him ever having used the thing, so I can't really blame him too much for selling it. He doesn't want to tell us what he got for it. We departed to Wulvaz on the very same day.   BETRAYAL The trip started out terribly. The times we spent happily travelling together as a party seem like a faraway dream. Few words are spoken, and none of them are too friendly. On the third day, Khourad and I almost fought. Neither of us really knows why. What if Thillivern was here? Would things be better?   Jefferey attempted to steal the temple key today. I woke up and couldn't find it, then saw a glimpse of it in his bag. He truly has changed. I demanded the key and the reason why he stole it. He returned it and lied about not having stolen it. Fool. If you didn't steal it, why do you have it? Traitor. He immediately fled once I showed signs of aggression. Thief.   A FRIEND I got to Wulvaz. Khourad followed me, but I'm keeping my eye on him as well. My house has returned. I spent some time calming myself there. I need my traitorous party members to get back the second key. They approached me on the beach with some story of a wizard. We need to get to the water plane? I'm keeping my eye on these two.   The evening of our arrival in Wulvaz, a friend knocked on the door. He will lead me to where I need to be. Finally someone helpful. I will get the others. Traitor Jefferey was in front of the tavern and showed remarkable wisdom by immediately trusting my friend. My friend told Jefferey to get Khourad, and he obeyed without question. Thief Jefferey is very smart. Distrustful Khourad also trusted my friend, and my friend used some magic. I think we might be in Aboleth's rest.   WE ARE IN ABOLETH'S REST We are in Aboleth's Rest! We have finally arrived in Aboleth's rest! I, and my distrustful allies, are currently in Aboleth's rest. In front of us is a beautiful, tranquil lake! This must be because we are in Aboleth's rest. There is a heavy wind, blowing sand into our eyes! Thankfully, we are in Aboleth's rest. I touch the serene water. I submerge myself in this wonderful lake. We are finally here.   We travel along the coast, to see more of this picturesque island. We will go to the centre of the lake. The key will be there. My useless party members spend more time complaining. They say I forced them to come here. Nonsense, they obeyed my friend without a word. Belligerent Khourad angrily asked me why he and thief Jefferey shouldn't just team up to beat me up and leave. I informed him that they have no chance of beating me.   Getting to the centre of this magnificent lake wasn't easy. My always ill-prepared party members had brought no food along, so they begged me for food. I, always the friendly tortle, happily shared my food with Jefferey the pickpocket. Khourad had just enough food for himself. In the centre, we found massive doors. I opened them without problem. Adaranth is angry that we are here. I almost forgot she existed. She's demanding to get first choice of magic item. I don't care, as long as you don't steal my second key.

A Tortle's Tale - 15 - There Are No Pirates Here

LEVERS The third day in the labyrinth has gone surprisingly well, my compass is really paying off. I arrived in a room filled with levers, Khourad and Jefferey were already present. Apparantly something interesting could happen if we use the levers, but despite my best efforts I couldn't figure out how.   The next morning Khourad is gone, and Jefferey and I decide to move on as well.   FREEDOM I'd lost Jefferey somewhere along the way, and I had to spend most of the day fighting monsters. The day after that finally saw me and Jefferey escaping the labyrinth. I encountered Jefferey as the sun was setting, and he led me to the exit.   THERE ARE NO PIRATES HERE We spent the next 2 days waiting for Khourad, who eventually emerged from the labyrinth. Moving on to the south, we found a large semi-collapsed tower where we assumed lunar cove to be. I climbed the tower, and was greeted with a beautiful view of the empty ocean. There were no ships here, neither along the coast nor on the sea. They all seemed to avoid this place. There seemed to be some sort of moon-related mechanism in this tower, which may have led us to lunar cove. However, we couldnt figure it out and were left boatless and hungry. Jefferey and Khourad seem to blame me for this.   HUNGER My party members were very ill-prepared for this journey. Khourad had no more food, and Jefferey was running low as well. We obviously wouldnt survive the way back through the labyrinth, so we traveled to the southernmost point of the continent in hopes of finding something there. Sadly, there was nothing to help us here either except for a nice view of a hauntingly empty ocean. As I now had to feed two starving party members, I had to start fishing every day and share what little food I have left. Some days will be spent in hunger, but I hope we make it. We will travel back to Tel'dur along the coast.   COMPLAINTS Jefferey and Khourad spent every day complaining to me, despite me being the only source of food for them. They blame me for our dire situation, despite me being the only reason haven't starved yet. I think part of their anger is because I'm still eating daily, but since I also have to fish for them it's obviously better if I'm not starving while fishing. We need the food, after all. They both agreed on going south, but now the narrative has shifted towards me dragging them along on some suicide mission. I had told them about the maze, and they agreed to come. Khourad hasn't trusted me from the start, and I feel like he's setting Jefferey up against me. This is not going well.   THERE AND BACK AGAIN After a grueling eleven day long journey that saw me fishing every day and rationing what rations I had left, we made it to the mountain range. From here, we traveled through the mountains with Khourad hunting for food each day. It was horrible, but eventually made it back to Tel'dur.

A Tortle's Tale - 14 - The Maze

A MAZE IN THE SOUTH On the way to Lunar Cove I happened across a maze of sorts. It looks enormous. I've never heard of such a thing, very peculiar.   I've spent the last three days exploring the maze but made no significant progress. Today I also decided to send communications to Jefferey, and apparently, things are not going well in Tel'dur. They are stuck in some sort of demiplane, with Jefferey having lost his hand and Khourad having broken his arm. I will abandon exploration of the maze, for now, to go back to Tel'dur, since it sounds like they need my help   A CITY IN A TOWER Tel'dur is massive. The city is all contained within a massive tower, with each floor containing some sort of district. I sent for Jefferey, and apparently, they have escaped the demiplane. Jefferey was in the library, researching how to gain his own demiplane. Something back there has gone very wrong, as my friend is now afraid of dying. According to him, this is now his last chance. If he dies, he's dead. I find it hard to sympathize since most people die when they are killed.   RETURNING TO THE MAZE I explained the maze to my friends and they seem interested, so we're heading back south. While heading through the forest, we came across a magnificent lake that reminded me very much of home. To enjoy the nostalgia, I bathed in it for a while. Jefferey and Khourad say I was asleep for hours and they couldn't wake me due to some strange magic on this lake, but maybe I was just very tired.   On the field of swords, I did get influenced by some strange magic. To make space for the camp, I moved one of the swords around a bit. This sword somehow possessed me, and I beat Khourad close to death. Very sorry for that lad. The rest of the way to the maze was terrible, as we were haunted by visions of battles long past. We were even ambushed by minotaurs when we left the swords, but they didn't amount to much.   Nearing the maze, we found a massive tree with flying cats around it. It was carrying strange fruits as well. At the end of the day, we were attacked by a four-armed demon with crab-like claws. This thing was very hard to take down, and Khourad almost died, but we managed.   THE LABYRINTH There were demons on top of the maze, something that was not the case last I entered. Very peculiar. In a fit of stupidity, I entered the maze and my comrades followed me in. Upon entering, a 12-meter-high minotaur appeared at the entrance and proclaimed his desire to hunt us. We ran and somehow lost each other.   It has now been 2 days of running around in the labyrinth, constantly fighting monsters.

A Tortle's Tale - 12 - Swords

THE SIEGE The orcs attacked today, and N0rthpoint fell in a single day. We fought as best we could. Considering that I had no more magical powers, I actually fought quite well. Throughout the day I had murdered several orcs, some goblins and two ogres. Nearing the end of the siege, however, I fell in combat. As I was dying I saw myself getting saved by the creature of the deep, my 'patron'. I don't want to admit it but I now owe the creature some help too. Khourad also gave me a potion which helped too. Eventually, however, the city was overrun and we fled.   FEAR OF ABOLETH'S REST We fled to Mensfield, where the remainder of Northpoint's army is seeking transport to Andfield. As Jefferey had promised to come to Aboleth's rest with me if I helped Northpoint, we also looked for ships to carry us there. However, asking around for a couple of hours informed us that none were willing to go there. People fear the place, fear the ocean near it and perhaps fear even the people seeking passage there. Even Rea, whom I sent a telepathic message, tells me she cannot help us. If we wish to go, we must find another way. In the meantime, we will go to the Waste.   UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS Travelling through the Anand forest was easier than expected. As we entered the forest everything became blurry, and we were transported to the other side of the forest. There we found swords. Lots of swords. An endless sea of swords. Fields full of em, stretching on for days from the eastern mountains to those in the west. Jefferey wishes to find one particular magic sword among them. While the situation seemed more or less hopeless, Jefferey managed to find some magic swords in the shape of a symbol with his strange magic eyes. It was better than nothing, and we concluded that we should search for what this symbol means to find the artifact. They wish to go to Tel'dur, but I'm not sure I'm coming with them. Perhaps I will go south, to Lunar cove. Maybe I can find a ship there.

A Tortle's Tale - 11 - Orcs in the North

FREEDOM IN ANOTHER WORLD I ran for several hours, then hid in the woods. If I had any need for confirmation that this voice in my head is bad news, I have it now. There was no need to destroy my house, was there? If he has such strong creatures under his command, why does he need me? I have a strong desire to go to Aboleth's rest, but maybe that's not a very good idea. I need somewhere to think freely. After a while, Jefferey and Khourad found me in the woods and said I have eyes flying behind me. Great, so he can see me wherever. Abaranth, who had manifested in the air, explained that I might be able to reduce its influence if I go to another plane. We go to the Wastes, perhaps there I will find a portal to my salvation.   A FIRE IN THE NORTH We immediately set out for the Wastes by way of sea. We went to the docks in Waterway, and got a boat to Mensfield. We were attacked by the shrimp creatures again, but they posed little threat to us. Mensfield itself wasn't anything special save for the few memories I have of first meeting Jefferey and Thillivern here. We'd been planning to go with the caravan to the elven city so we moved on quickly. I intentionally will not go near Sarnath, who knows what devastation the monster of the deep will bring to my birth village if we go there now. On the way to the elven city we saw smoke to the north, where Northpoint is. We've decided to go there instead, perhaps the humans need our aid.   ORCS Four days since we split ways with the caravan, we can now see an army of orcs. Khourad says he recognizes these orcs. They had taken him prisoner or something. From his explanation, they do not seem like peace-loving friendly neighbourhood orcs but rather quite violent creatures. It seems like they are planning to take the city, and we're gonna try to stop that.   POWERLESS AND DEFORMED We joined the army in Northpoint. It seemed like they needed help, and Jefferey said he'd go with me to Aboleth's Rest if we helped the humans here. That all being well and good, my dreams that night started out wonderfully. Nature was all around me, and I was nature itself. True beauty, freedom and serenity. Everything seemed at peace for once. For us, however, no peace can last. A small eye suddenly appeared on a tree. It seemed innocent enough, but corruption only reveals itself once it has truly and completely taken hold. More eyes appeared, along with gaping mouths to consume the calm. Nature was no more. The great eye appeared again, telling me I need to go to Aboleth's Rest and abandon these humans of Northpoint. I told it that we will go to Aboleth's Rest, but my party members will only follow once we have dealt with the situation in Northpoint. As expected of pure madness, the creature did not listen and insisted I do what it tells me. It always begs me for help, while it offers me nothing. Seems like it needs me a whole lot more than I need it right? I told it as much, and the creature was not happy. I awoke to find my powers gone. Initially, I was very much delighted, but delight turned into horror once I noticed my limbs. They were constantly changing into deformed tentacle-like appendages, as eyes opened and closed all over my body. So the creature removed its only boon and doubled down on the curse. It wants to make me suffer so I do its bidding. Foolish creature. Jefferey also seems to be struggling with his curse, as his leg is swollen and deformed. Truly, the sooner we get rid of these 'patrons' the better. It seems like the orcs might attack today, so this all is very badly timed.

A Tortle's Tale - 10 - They Have Come

THE EAGLES ARE COMING As expected, there was something wrong with the connection to the water plane. As we approached, a massive water elemental appeared at the connection site. The druid with us immediately rushed off and we had to fight this creature to buy time. The battle did not go too well. Khourad was constantly getting consumed by the water elemental and was struggling to get out for most of the fight. Jefferey was also getting thrown around, eventually landing in a wall of water and also drowning. The ghost from Jefferey's ring, Adaranth, was the only other person putting up a solid fight against the creature. Of course, I stood my ground quite well and managed to hold on until it seemed like there was no way for us to win the fight anymore. Despite holding on for a while, I could not damage the creature as I had to spend most of my time trying to save Khourad from the monster. When all seemed lost, the druids returned on the backs of great eagles and with their assistance we managed to defeat the creature. We returned to the druid village and were rewarded for our efforts. Jefferey and I spent most of the day lounging in the hot springs, Khourad still too distrustful to join us.   CONTACT WITH THILLIVERN We returned to Wulvaz through a portal in a tree, thanks to strange druidic magic. In Wulvaz, a letter awaited me from Thillivern where he said he worried about our party. He correctly assumed Khourad was asking a lot of questions but thought I might be able to bridge any mistrust between Jefferey and Khourad. It would make sense to assume Khourad would be more distrustful of Jefferey than me, but alas. He knows Jefferey is a wanted murderer, but since I once vomited black goo he now trusts Jefferey more than me. A very strange man indeed, maybe he knows something that we don't. He could be connected to the being from the deep if he knows black vomit is related to such creatures. I must be wary. Through the sending spell I contacted Thillivern to inform him that all was well, slightly downplaying the mistrust in the party. Don't want him to needlessly worry. He's in Nimloth trying to form an expedition for something I assume is related to Wulvaz. I'll find the others and inform them.   TO ABOLETH'S REST? I found the others and we had a fun discussion. We discussed where to go in the future, and I'd like to go to Aboleth's rest. The others aren't too sure but I must go there. We could also do what Adaranth wants us to do, but Aboleth's rest is also an option. She said she'd talk to us about it later or something, so we could just go to Aboleth's rest. The discussion goes nowhere so I go home, perhaps I'll find Aboleth's rest there. I find the creatures from the deep instead. They look at me from the sea. Is he watching me with them, because he can't see me otherwise? Interesting. Perhaps we don't go to Aboleth's rest? Curse that Abaranth. She visited later that evening in Jefferey's body, calling me a slave. Foolish woman. I trust her as far as I can throw her, and I can't throw ghosts. She does not listen to me and tells me I cannot handle the creature, that I'm a slave to it. Leave my house, spirit, and don't come back.   THEY HAVE COME In my dream, the creature told me to go to Aboleth's rest. Thanks for the reminder. He's gonna send people to me. Best to leave soon then. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. They have come. My house is gone. I'm running. This is bad.  

A Tortle's Tale - 9 - The Druids of the Mountain

POSSESSIONS AND NIGHTMARES It all seems like some strange fever dream. We've camped on the cold mountainside, yet despite us having to walk through an avalanche to get here the night brought more horrors than the day. The woman in Jefferey's head possessed me. As if I need more creatures to enter my head. She gave my ring of the ram to Jefferey, which he promptly returned. At least she did not touch the important ring. The rest of the night was filled with the usual nightmares, a large eye commanding me to find the second ring. The creature then ate me whole, surely as some ironic metaphor for this quest slowly consuming me.   A GHOST REVEALED Through hail and heavy weather, we traversed this lonely mountainside. As we set up camp, Jefferey suddenly spoke in a women's voice. Possessed, surely. The possessor revealed herself as Adaranth, and wanted us to find four of her slaves. More information was not given to us, as the fool Khourad decided to continuously interrupt the spirit. This elf will be the end of us yet. He asks questions while silence is all the ghosts needs to tell us answers. Needless to say, she had enough of his interruptions and spoke no more that day. The night gave me no more comfort, as another nightmare took hold of my mind. No air, slowly suffocating. A large eye looking down on me. I attempt to flee and suddenly my arm gets twisted and bent, broken from its original shape to resemble a kind of sword. I awake in fright, yet the sword arm remains. I can force it away with a thought, yet it is now part of me. This nightmare is real. As I walk into the camp and converse with Jefferey, strange black goo streams from my mouth. Not the worst that has happened so far, but it did prompt questions. Questions I cannot answer.   THE DRUIDS We arrived at the mountaintop to find the druids, who brought a very much needed change of pace. They built a house for us and let us use their hot springs. In the evening we discussed rituals, and I felt like an actual shaman for the first time in too long. Jefferey asked them about the symbols on the arch, and they recognized several as symbols representing elemental planes. Interesting, the arch might actually be some gateway to other planes. Maybe if we could get it working again, we could be able to send some things back to where they belong. Maybe. They also told us of the issue with a connection to the water plane being overactive, and we agreed to investigate it the next day. At night, the female ghost appeared again. She told us that her slaves are related to elementals, so they're probably those strange humanoids we found on the Icy Veil. Interesting. She died because her experiments angered the gods. While Khourad did not interrupt the ghost with his needless questioning, he did barrage me with questions. Stop asking questions. He asks and asks and asks, I do not trust him in the slightest. Joined our group to get a free ride from Icy Veil back to the mainland, and followed us into Wulvaz. Sure, that much I can understand. Then in Wulvaz, he would not stop asking questions about Jefferey's past. Now he wants to know exactly what's going on with me. He's not worried for my health, that much I can tell. He wants to know every secret under the sun, while we barely know him. No, I do not trust this man and neither does he trust me. How does he expect me to tell him what's happening when he's so obviously mistrustful? Even my good friends Jefferey and Thillivern know little. Anyway, we will move to investigate the connection to the water plane tomorrow. I hope Khourad at least proves useful in combat if anything goes wrong.

A Tortle's Tale - 8 - Return

THE EXPEDITION We set off towards the expedition, but almost immediately Thillivern starts questioning what the ring is for. I'd hoped he hadn't seen it. I vaguely tell him it's related to my powers and he leaves it at that. Good. During our trip to the expedition, Jefferey starts hearing a female voice in his head thanking him for freeing her or something. I hope the voice doesn't spread, we can't house any more people in this head of mine. Not until I figure out how to stop them from looking. Of course, I tell him to ignore it. Maybe it will go away on its own. The expedition itself wasn't all that impressive. They've been here a lot longer than we have but have only explored this southernmost ruin. They have found frozen bodies but nothing else of significance, which honestly suits me fine. They seem to be building some houses as if they're planning to remain here for an extended amount of time, poor lads. We come across some guy named Khourad who's apparently not all too happy about the state of this expedition and would rather come with us back to the mainland. I informed Rea of our living and plans to return, so we're leaving soon. We smell some sulfur or something as well, which Thillivern thought was a good sign for us to leave as quickly as possible. Jefferey meanwhile was showing clear signs of reduced sanity, as he suggested going back into the old ruins to kill the monsters we set free. How he ever survived a day without us is beyond me.   RETURN TO WULVAZ We returned to Wulvaz, which is where I can finally write this journal entry from the comfort of my own home. We learned a bit about Khourad, the wood elf that's started following us around looking for adventure. His home village apparently burned down, and he was on the Icy Veil to make money. Lots of it too. On the way here our little dryad friend entered the forest we were passing through, so I hope she'll be alright from now on. We also got stuck in another one of those strange spaces. Khourad, not being used to our party, got very suspicious immediately. I guess that makes sense. Anyway, we got back to Wulvaz in one piece and stopped by the tavern to find some paladins of a holy order looking for our friend Jefferey. I guess he can't outrun his past much longer. Khourad got even more suspicious and started asking questions about Jefferey. Stop asking questions, please. We all have a past we'd rather not talk about, and I'll not talk speculation about my friend's unfortunate life. I left the tavern to go collect my thoughts at the beach, but on the way there I found the same human-dragon hybrids from the Icy Veil setting up camp beside my house. Very interesting. They're called Au'ra, and come from Ascana. Some continent to the west apparently. Very peculiar how much stranger this world has become in the last couple of weeks.   MY THOUGHTS I've spent some time thinking, and decided it would be best to keep this short and vague. We do not know which eyes can read this journal, after all. I will gather the rings. What I will do after, I can only think about once my thoughts are fully my own. I will do what I must. Sometimes I get confused about what that is. I'm not sure why, but I think you should hurry.   ONE LEFT BEHIND Thillivern suggested we go find some druids in the nearby mountains. They are having trouble with some portal to the water plane, which could be connected to the strange elementals we found on the Icy Veil. Additionally, Thillivern says he must take care of some urgent matters in Wulvaz and cannot come with us this time. I wonder whether this 'urgent matter' is really all that urgent. Surely Wulvaz has some degree of autonomy, why else would Thillivern have risked his life so often previously? Maybe he could no longer take the whispering, or perhaps he had enough of the strange occurrences. Did the paladins chasing after Jefferey tell him something? Does he not want to risk this 'holy order' finding out he has been sheltering a wanted criminal? Regardless of his reasoning, we will go on without him.

A Tortle's Tale - 7 - Ancient Ruins in a Young World

AN UNEXPECTED REUNION Back in Waterway, we asked the locals about the expedition to the Icy Veil. Are there still ships going there, are they expected to return anytime soon or has anyone had contact with the expedition? Noone really knew an answer to any of these questions, but if we wanted to go to the Icy Veil our best bet was to ask the harbormaster. So we did. The harbormaster, an older man slightly broken from a lifetime of work, was happy enough to inform us of a captain willing to go most anywhere if we had the coin. Rea Newberry. A familiar name I did not expect to hear again. She and her boat clover were a nostalgic sight, and she was as surprised to see us as we were to see her. I don't know how she survived, but I'm glad she did. She'd somehow ended up at the exiled lands, and managed to find her way here. Fate or coincidence, 50 gold coins will take us to the Icy Veil. As I am the sole member of my party capable of long-distance communication, I need to contact Rea within 2 weeks or she will assume me dead and pick up the rest of my party. The necessity of this arrangement emphasized the danger of this expedition. I'm obviously going there to find one of the rings, but why are my friends following me? Do they not realize the danger? Perhaps we will find answers in the Icy Veil.   THE OLD GODS AND THE NEW Our last days in Waterway were characterized by a massive thunderstorm. Thunder always makes me think of home, of my training as a shaman, of Melora and especially of Kord. Home, where life was easy and calm. We spent these last two days preparing for an expedition to a place anything but easy and calm. I truly hope I'll one day be able to go back there. I spent my last night in Waterway on a walk. I'd bought myself expensive beer as well, since it's likely the last time I'll enjoy such tastes for the foreseeable future. As I was walking around Waterway, staring at the stars and wondering about my place in this world, I noticed a striking pattern within the sky. The stars in a particular area of the blackness above formed a lightning-like figure. Lightning, representing Kord. Thunder and lightning, battle and warfare. The Stormlord, embodied by heavenly bodies. I nodded to him, and as I did a stripe crossed the pattern as if Kord himself responded to me. This brought me to a state of horrid reflection, as I hurried back to the Inn. Is this life, so far removed from the shamanic traditions I was raised for, truly something Kord would respect? I used to tenderly care for my fellow villagers, for nature and the earth. We danced in thunder, laughed in the rain and cherished lightning as it streaked the heavens. Now, I slaughter. A whispering from far depths forbidden to flourishing life has called me to seek its freedom, and I follow. True enough, our party seeks to save this world, yet is that really what we're doing? We cannot possibly hope to defeat those dragons, one glimpse of them is enough to drive me mad. The sole reason we're seeking the Veil is the voice from the deep. Perhaps I can still prove my bravery to Kord by facing those dragons, but I'm not sure what to do about the being from below.   AN ARCH ON THE SEA The last night in Waterway was strange, as Thillivern had opened a strange box. It had apparently freed some being trapped inside, but it had already gone away once we entered his room. Surely this can't be anything good. We set out to sail for Waterway, and I helped anywhere I could on the ship. I spent most of my time fishing but was needed I was happy to help a hand elsewhere when my strength was needed. After a few days, we noticed a curious object on the horizon. An arch. A strange thing, one could even say it was out of this world. Naturally, Jefferey and I went over in a rowboat to investigate more closely. The ship's crew, strangely, showed very little interest in the object. Neither did Thillivern. Changing symbols, flying stones, and no discernable use. Closer inspection by Jefferey's eyes revealed an absurd amount of conjuration magic coming from the arch. A gateway, then. Throwing objects through made the symbols glow shortly, but nothing otherwise significant happened. Naturally, I could not resist the urge to touch the arch. Pain filled my body as I did, as well as a strange feeling of magical strength. Further investigation into this phenomenon did not reveal more, so we reluctantly rowed back to the ship and continued to the Icy Veil. Perhaps the Icy Veil can solve this mystery as well.   THE ICY VEIL No traces of an expedition in sight. Jefferey noticed something strange with the Weave, which means something is going on with the magic of this place. Perhaps the Icy Veil will give us more questions than answers. We move land-inward. The first night we see beautiful lights in the sky, the aurora. The stars are beautiful here. My dreams, however, were less beautiful. It was dark, and I was underwater. An almost nostalgic dream scenario. After swimming upwards for about 15 minutes, a gigantic eye opened up before me. "Seek them. Free me. SEEK THEM". I awoke. It seems the whisperer is losing patience and subtlety faster than I'm losing my sanity. Thillivern had seen the being from the box in his dream, some large humanoid apparently. It pointed him towards where we need to go, according to the being. Fine by me. The dawn brought with it a beautiful mist, and we continued on. After a while we found our first ruins. A sign of what was to come, surely. Many broken down walls, covered in as many magical runes as in snow. None of the runes was active, but it was very strange to see such ruins. What were they once, and what happened?   MORE RUINS The next day we found our next ruins, and this time some magic was still active. Thillivern stood upon an altar amidst elves and was given an answer to a single question. Apparently, stopping the dragons will be very difficult and we must prepare for the end of the world. Not very helpful. Further on we found more ruins and a single dilapidated tower standing amidst the devastation. There were bodies everywhere in strange clothes, frozen solid. Strange human-dragon hybrid beings, seemingly unprepared for the cold that took them. Within the tower was a cave which we entered, and this was also filled with frozen bodies and strange magical runes. Strange electric poles with strange magic. The last room of this cave showed us the tall humanoid, red with horns on his head. He, Sathil, summoned some other elemental creature, Zakhara, who was brown with a sandstorm for feet. They asked us to free the other elementals for them, as if they couldn't do it themselves. Naturally, as we always do, we decided to go along with what these strange creatures told us to do. It seems as if this specific cave involved strange experiments on earth elementals. I think something's gone wrong here, and the same likely happened for the other three elements.   RUINS WITHIN RUINS We followed the road to the other ruins, which took us a good couple of days. We noticed fire and smoke from the south, which is probably the expedition. We continued east, as that's where the elemental man wanted us to go. Once there, we again found a tower. This one was massive, and a look through a window told me that it was extremely deep. Of course, we still went down. At the bottom of this tower, we found caves and a large wooden ship. What this ship is doing here is beyond me, and there were frozen bodies everywhere too. As we were looking around, Jefferey screamed from a side room. A flying skull, flaming with rotten green fire. It seems like it might get pretty dangerous down here. We killed it. Twice. Or rather, once it came back to life it suddenly wished itself back alive and then it was gone. I'm still confused as to what exactly happened, but we just went on to inspect the ship. The ship contained some nice goodies, one of which was a magical ring that I took for myself. It seems quite strong, though I've yet to use it at the time of writing this. We continued on and found a broken down tower here as well. It seems like an entire city within the ruins of this massive tower. Further on we found some strange iron head with expensive-looking eyes, and a strange altar with magical runes and an eye in the middle. This altar allowed someone to control a flying eye, which is strange but by no means the worst of what we found down there. Further on we find more bodies and a room with three massive snow monsters, but luckily we just avoided those. Less lucky is that Jefferey removed some permanent time-freeze on a coffin, and released some kind of gnoll vampire being. As a side note, some magic here seemed to cause another magical effect to go off. Anyway, I cast a spell and for some reason, the gnoll just disappeared. Good. Great. Let's not unfreeze permanently frozen things again. Another side effect of this spell was the ability to ask the universe for something. As it was quite limited, I inquired about the location of the still hidden ring. It's in Aboleth's Rest. I could have expected that. Additionally, I had to ask the universe for this aloud, so my friends might now mistrust me. We found another object permanently frozen. This time, it was a chest. Probably blinded by greed, Jefferey immediately unfroze this chest as well. As blinded by greed as my friend, I immediately opened this chest. Lo and behold, I was inside the chest. I found myself. Sadly, I attacked myself. I really hurt myself there, but suddenly I was somehow protected by a strange but familiar bubble. I then proceeded to attack my friends, but I ran away with a clone of Jefferey. Luckily, I survived this encounter with myself. Further down in the cave I suddenly got a headache. We continued to find a frozen lake, with a massive shadow moving around inside. The shadow had uncountable arms, and an eye radiating unspeakable horrors stared into my soul. I asked it how to free the being inside the temple, and he told me how. I'll not write it here.   A PLACE OF REST We continued to walk, and found a frozen grove. Trees with purple pears surrounded by broken walls. We find the elementals here, who have freed their fellows. A Djinn by the name of Keerredi and a Marid called Luar. They inform us of their plan to destroy the world or something of that nature. They then just vanish, so I don't think they really needed us for anything. The grove itself is protected by a dryad, who thankfully allows us to rest there. She was bound to this place apparently, but we freed her. She will come along with us until we find a forest. She's called Hathowyn. I explore a bit more and find a pit with strange eye-creatures who are talking nonsense so we ignore them. Nonsense. Further on we find some sort of platform, a thermal cube in a wizard's workshop and a large spear. I rush past these things because we found something more important further on. Guarded by some strange spirit, which we obviously slew. Jefferey found the first ring. Finally, that's one. Thankfully, Jefferey gave it to me without the need to escalate the situation. He still wanted to go to the iron statue with the valuable eyes but, apparently, that's where the gnoll vampire is now, so we're just getting out of here.  

A Tortle's Tale - 6 - The Roots of Heaven

A MURDERER IN THE PARTY..? So, after reuniting with Jefferey in Deladar Mordnin we found some surprising posters. The guards were looking for a 'Jefferey', as he had committed a murder. Obviously there are many Jeffereys in the world, but when questioned about it our Jefferey acted very suspicious. One thing led to another, and me and Thilivern were considering handing him over to the guards. However, Jefferey saved my life on multiple occasions to it wouldn't do to betray his trust like that. Still, we'd best keep a low profile if we don't want to get arrested by some guards somewhere.   ANDFIELD On the way to Andfield we encountered the usual strangeness of the road. We arrived safely, however, and I spent most of the first day relaxing in the bath. Lovely. The next day we went to the library, and after some searching I found that the rings I am looking for are about as big as chakrams. Additionally, I found some interesting facts that I'll just quickly list below: The temple I was taken to was in the Forbidden depths. If one comes too close, they will be lost. There is a link between the forbidden depths and Aboleth's rest. There are shadows in the lake of Aboleth's rest. The creatures that had taken me were Chuuls, who are likely subordinate to some greater being (and I assume that's the being in the temple). Urkoloon is something outside of this world. There once was an expedition to Aboleth's rest, little was found and the expedition members are went insane or committed suicide by drowning.   I will have to find these rings. I will find these rings.   THE ROAD TO GLIMMERBREACH So we decided the best course of action is to go to Deladar Mordnin, then to Glimmerbreach and if possible find a way there to either Heaven's Roots or Aboleth's rest. The road to Deladar Mordnin, again, was filled with cursed strangeness. A portal again appeared to some unknown realm beyond comprehension. A part of me assumes this is done by the being in the Forbidden Depths, but why would it ask me for help and then obstruct me? The keys to the gates will be the keys to this riddle as well. We arranged a meeting with the king of Deladar Mordnin once we got there, yet this will likely take another couple of months. Best to keep moving.   GLIMMERBREACH Glimmerbreach was filled with strangeness too, but this was good strangeness. No one wanted to talk to us about how to get to Heaven's Roots, but they did want to party. So party we did. I will not go into details, but you could say there were some explosive nights. Jefferey had also never existed at some point, but for only 90 gold we managed to make him exist again. How these small folk survive is beyond me. Somehow the leader of Glimmerbreach agreed to teleport us to Heaven's Roots, but why and how this all happened I'm not quite sure.   THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN Heaven's Roots is truly a magical place. Every person here seems to be a wizard of some sort, and their knowledge of the arcane seems to be vast. Thilivern, always first to find the one in charge, made a deal with the leader of Heaven's Roots. He's learned the draconic language, instantly, for a share of ownership of his village or something. Very expensive. Of course, I'm not one to pass up any opportunity to decrease my odds of dying on this adventure, so I made a deal with the leader to protect Thilivern in exchange for a blessing that would protect me. This deal essentially cost me nothing, as I'd always protect my friends. Jefferey had trouble deciding on whether he wanted to make a deal with this guy as well, so in the meantime, we went to the library to find some more knowledge. There's a lot we found out from some guy in the library, and I'll again list them here: Esran used some spell to take the mountain out of Aboleth's rest, turned it upside down and made a city out of it. Things from the Far Realm now occupy Aboleth's rest (good move Esran). There's indeed a temple in the Forbidden Depths, and this temple is for Urkoloon. He doesn't know what it is except that it's from the Far Realm. He knows where one of the rings might be, the other is unknown. The last time the known ring was seen was in Icy Veil, which is occupied by the ruins of some old city. He does not recommend I go to Aboleth's rest, as we'd likely die.   After getting all we needed from Heaven's Roots, we decided to go to Waterway as there's an expedition to Icy Veil going on there right now. The guy from Heaven's Roots happily obliged and teleported us to Waterway.        

A Tortle's Tale - 5 - Dragons

SHADOWS FROM THE CLOUDS We were waiting out the storm in Waterway. Nothing really seemed to be happening, but in the evening Jefferey told me that he had seen strange shadows moving from out of the storm towards Waterway. That might have been relevant for me to know earlier, or perhaps it could have been smart to tell the guards? He had done no such thing, however, and neither had Thilivern who had also seen the shadows. These comrades of mine might be smarter than me in some ways, but they are severely lacking in common sense. It's probably too late now to tell the guards, as they won't be able to see the shadows this late in the evening and will probably take me for a madman if I want them. Let's hope nothing happens tonight.   ROCKS FROM THE EARTH As always, something strange did happen. Weird little stone creatures appeared in the city and were attacking the guards. I tried to help with one of my newly discovered powers, which seems to link this world to some faraway realm. Uncanny whispering and slithering could be heard from inside the area of effect of the spell while an eerie cold could be felt from afar. Sadly, the stone creatures had little difficulty in finding their way out of the area and completely crushed a guard nearby. I myself was also knocked unconscious, as per usual, but within seconds I managed to wake up again. Oddly, I'm starting to get used to the idea of dying.   TO THE MOUNTAINS The day after we managed to clear out the rocks, the storm had dissipated. Us being us, we headed towards the mountains to investigate. Several strange things happened while on our way there, and at one point I got stuck in some strange ball. It helped keep the rain out and for some reason turned me very lightweight. The situation resolved itself rather quickly though, and several more days passed as we made our way to the mountains. Once fairly close, however, we were attacked by three wyverns. Within seconds, I had been stabbed by a wyvern and he injected lethal poison straight into my heart. I felt the familiar feeling of death approaching and lost consciousness. Lucky for me, Jefferey had some potion with him that helped me get back on my feet. To avenge myself, I brutally murdered two of the three wyverns as my fellow party members dispatched of the last one.   DRAGONS We arrived at the mountains and after three more days of searching for where the storm had come from some huge creature flew over us with a skull for a head. Things around us started rotting away when it happened, but we were fine. We found what was likely to be the source of it in the shape of two large rocks and one crater on some plateau next to a cave. There was ice in the crater, the green rock was corrosive and the red rock was hot. As I was trying to figure out what was going on, the earth started quaking and a huge white dragon came out of the cave. Very, very scary. After it flew off, the area around the red rock started erupting with lava. Jefferey attempted to get past it into the cave, but the magma coming out of the ground convinced him otherwise. A large red dragon came out of this rock. As you might have guessed, the green rock later erupted into a corrosive cloud and we had to run off. I'm glad I didn't go into the cave before it erupted, as the corrosive cloud has spread out for miles and has yet to show any signs of leaving the next day.   MISTY HALLWAYS Having had enough of the situation, we went back to Waterway. After three days of travelling, we awoke in a strange misty room. We tried to break out, but it just kept expanding into more misty hallways. The way to get out was just to sleep though, so after we did it we could happily continue on to Waterway. At least. those of us that sleep. Jeffery, with his new powers to never sleep, was nowhere to be found at the campsite. We went back to Waterway without him, and once back in Waterway I thought up a way to use the telepathic powers between me and that strange whispering creature to telepathically talk to other people from afar. Jefferey had apparently slept somewhere deeper in the hallway and ended up near Glimmerbreach. How curious.

A Tortle's Tale - 4 - Monsters of the Deep

HOUSE ON THE BEACH, HOLES IN THE SAND I returned to Wulvaz and was very pleased with the result of the construction. The house, while small, was very cosy and was nicely placed next to the forest overlooking the beach and sea. However, as always seems to be the case nowadays, there was something strange going on with the beach. There were little holes in the sand coming from the sea towards my house. We did some investigating but did not find a source. There are some rumours circulating around about shadows in the waters, so we're going to investigate that tomorrow. I hope nothing strange happens, but I think that might be too much to ask.   SOMETHING STRANGE HAPPENS. AGAIN I woke up in the middle of my first night here, and I've somewhat destroyed the interior of my house. I won't go into too much detail, but there was a lot of whispering and scariness involved. Anyway, Thilivern was apparently stuck in his house. Whenever he would try to leave, he just walked back into his house. Very strange. Jefferey had some portal in his room, which was even stranger. I accidentally looked at it, which caused my mind to collapse for a while. I'd rather not talk about it too much, but let's just avoid strange portals from now on. Somehow in all the strangeness, Jefferey had lost an eye, but he doesn't want to talk about it.   SHADOWS IN THE WATER We started our investigation towards the shadows quite optimistically and found out the source of the shadows and holes in the sand rather quickly. While I was happily rowing our little rowboat into the sea, we found the shadows and I somehow thought it would be a good idea to poke a paddle into one of the shadows. The paddle broke, and the shadows revealed themselves to be giant shrimp speaking deep speech. While we tried fighting them, we were at a grave disadvantage on the sea. The battle was lost, but I was the only one taken away from the group. They took me into the depths of the ocean, and when I realized they weren't trying to kill me I just went along with it.   UNDERWATER TEMPLE After several days of underwater travel, we arrived at some giant underwater temple. Here. something spoke to me. "FREE ME. FIND THE KEYS. FREE ME". I'm thinking this must be related somehow to all the strangeness that has happened to me in these last few months. Maybe this is the creature in the lake, the whisperer in the dark, the cause of our nightmares. I am conflicted. If this creature, locked up and sealed away in this temple, can already influence the world to such a degree from inside this prison, what would it do once freed? It might not be the best idea to unleash it upon the world. What sealed it? Why does it need my help to get out? Something inside me wants to free it, regardless of these risks. It has given me a lot of power already, while imprisoned. What would it give me in reward for freeing it?   SAFE RETURN The shrimps returned me to Wulvaz, where I was happily welcomed again by my friends. They thought I had been killed, which makes sense considering the circumstances. After a nice meal, Thilivern confronted me about everything that's been happening these past months. Yeah, it's probably my fault all these strange things are happening. The guilt is really starting to tear me apart. I feel so bad about the things they have to go through because of me, and somehow they're still willing to stay around me. Why? Why aren't they just telling me to go away?   WATERWAY There are many mysteries still unsolved. The issue with the temple and the keys, the masked zombie issue and, of course, the dragons. We know too little to make any meaningful decisions, so we're now looking to figure out more. We're going on a journey to increase our knowledge. Starting out at waterway. The journey towards Waterway was, as always, filled with strange events but I won't go into too much detail. In the library of Waterway I found out that Aboleth's rest is attracting people with whispers, and it might have something to do with the forbidden depths. Aboleth's rest in general is a bit freaky, as apparently something is living inside the hole that was probably made by Heaven's Roots, which is the big flying island that was likely once the center of Aboleth's rest. Such a strange world we live in. Also, there is something with Urlokoon, but I don't know what it is. On leaving the library, there was a large sandstorm in Waterway. Can't we have any normal days? Another storm seems to be approaching, with something flying out ahead of it.    

A Tortle's Tale - 3 - Glory and Vengeance

HEROES OF THE BAZAAR We headed towards the bazaar once more, for glory and vengeance. We marched with the army of Deladar Morndin, and this time we were prepared. Enough men to take on an army of those masked creatures. After a few days of travel we arrived, and there we indeed faced off against an army. With the help of the three major cities around the bazaar, we made it towards the center of the bazaar to face some creature that seemed to be in charge of the masked ones. The fight was intense, and this foe we had to face with the three of us. As the army fought the creatures all around us, we were locked in battle with their leader. And what a battle it was. We battled for what seemed like ages, and despite his focus being mostly on me, I managed to hold on for an eternity. The whispers are distant despite me using their powers, oh Kord would be proud. I got in many solid hits, yet despite my best efforts I could not keep my consciousness long enough to see the masked leader fall. As I went down, I knew my friends would manage to finish off this wounded creature. When I awoke, the battle was over. Apparantly slaying their leader was enough to take out the army, so one wouldn't be mistaken to call us heroes. All that was left of the creature was some strange sword, which I took the liberty of securing for myself.   A STRANGE JOURNEY After the battle, we decided to move to the town Thillivern keeps mentioning. He was very convincing, and since it wouldn't make sense for me to travel for months to rest at Sarnath I decided to make my temporary home there. To get there, we first had to travel to Nimloth. While not a dangerous journey, it was a strange one. Several days in a row our possessions were spread out around the camp, and no one seemed to know why. I can guess, but I'm not happy about what I'm guessing. The whispers might be finding their way into the real world, and if the whispers can come perhaps the one whispering might find its way here too.   SHELL AND SHIELD We had safely arrived in Nimloth, and with my spoils of war I decided on learning the way of the shield. I purchased a shield and a book on how to use one. May Ioun have mercy, I never was good with books.   WULVAZ So, as per usual, our journey was filled with absurdities. For several days some of our party members started sleepwalking. Not normal sleepwalking mind you, we were unable to wake them up and they went to strange places for strange reasons, myself included. At some point, I was drawing some strange symbols on the ground. How peculiar. We also somehow managed to get lost during one of our sleepwalking trips and found some strange dragons drawn on a wall, but I really have no idea what that all means. Eventually, we did get to Wulvaz and the town was very small. I say town here, but it was more of a settlement with a couple of people living there. While it seems a bit strange to build a house here in the middle of nowhere, we got offered a pretty good deal so we started construction on my beach house immediately. To earn money for this project, Jefferey and me started working as merchant escorts and that paid nicely. Several merchants met with strange accidents though, which I blame on the nightmare creature. I tried researching the creature in my nightmares in Andfield while working, but there really was nothing to be found. I did make good progress on my shield training though.

A Tortle's Tale - 2 - The Bazaar

WORK After Thilivern's speech, in which he somehow convinced me to help him retake the bazaar, I took on some odd jobs around the city. I mostly helped some people with moving stuff, but the pay was alright. I think my party members also worked around town, but we barely spoke during these days. Guess everyone was nervous.   ONWARDS, TO THE BAZAAR We went towards the bazaar, I decided to approach Jefferey on the topic of magic. Before this grand battle at the crossroads, I felt like it would be of the utmost importance to figure out how to use this magic. Jefferey uses magic, so why not ask him? Apparantly he got his powers from some 'patron' which talks to him sometimes. My thoughts immediately went to the whispers, and apparently, Jefferey could hear them as well. In all likelihood, these whispers and nightmares are related to my newly awakened magical abilities. At least I'm probably not insane, but the knowledge that these whispers come from some real being frightens me more.   NIGHTMARES As we neared the bazaar, our party was once again plagued by nightmares. The knowledge that this is likely my fault eats at my heart, but I don't know what to do about it. Then, just this morning, I vomited salt water after the nightmare. If that's not related to magic, I don't know what is. The big question is, why is this monster giving me magical powers? If it's tormenting me and my party members, what would it stand to gain by making me stronger? None of this makes any sense.   BROKEN BONES AND BROKEN SPIRIT Once again, we fought with the masked creatures. Once again, they took me out in one hit. My shell protected me for a good 6 seconds, I then missed with my maul and got annihilated. I'm getting used to the feeling of dying, and I'm not too happy about that. When I eventually woke up, I had broken my arm. Some cleric was nearby and he managed to heal my arm, but there is absolutely no way I will survive this adventure. Thillivern told me about some city he was building, maybe I'll just go there.   NO REASON TO RUN I am a fool. I keep wanting to give up this adventure, but with this demon in my mind, there is no place to peacefully retire to. I must find a way to rid myself of this curse, or I will die trying. I started this adventure with a reason, and I cannot give up simply because I will die. I must go on, as Kord would surely despise me for cowardice.    

A Tortle's Tale - 1 - Mistrust

PROLOGUE   As the firstborn son of the village shaman of Sarnath, it should have been my fate to assume my father's position once he had grown too old. Yet these nightmarish dreams and maddening voices have gone on for too long, be it the influence of this horrible lake or something within myself. When I once seemed to be the only one suffering, the voices that once only plagued my mind have begun to disturb the hearts of my people. There is a suspicious glint in their eyes when they look towards me, and the conversations they hold in hushed tones must mean they suspect something sinister. Do they suspect my madness? Or do they reckon something yet more sinister is at play, something that causes them to mistrust their own minds as well?   I had confronted my father about the nature of the lake several times, yet he convinced me there is nothing amiss within its waters. "It is your mind playing tricks on you, my son, or something else is playing tricks on your mind," he said, " Yet water can play no tricks, and these waters hold no creatures that can either". If the answer is not in the lake, I must look for it elsewhere.   NORTHPOINT   It has been several days now that I have been in the city of Northpoint. These creatures, humans, are not used to the tortle race. I had planned to ask the humans for a way to help me or my village, but they seem mistrustful of me for my race alone. I had approached some human shaman, who they seem to call 'clerics', in his human temple. He seemed like he would have liked to help me, but at some point in our conversation, his demeanour changed. For a few seconds, it seemed as if he was listening to someone, yet I heard no one speak. His face turned mistrustful, and he became openly hostile. This happened several times over the course of a few days. It seems as though these humans can offer me no salvation, and I am beginning to doubt whether any being other than myself can offer me any. I will travel elsewhere, perhaps the other continent holds an answer.     ARRIVAL IN MENSFIELD This small fisher's village feels more like home than Northpoint did, but it seems to have its fair share of troubles as well. Within a day of arriving here, I noticed several masked strangers attack the village. They were quickly dealt with by the local militia, but I doubt I want to stay here for an extended period of time.   QUICK DEPARTURE FROM MENSFIELD Luckily there was a boat leaving the day after my arrival here, captained by one Rea Newberry. She looked at me strangely at first, but it seems all humans share this trait of strangely looking at someone they meet for the first time. The crew seemed nice enough as well, there was one guy who loved telling stories about some faraway gnome town. As for fellow travellers, there was some arrogant looking elf who decided not to help us prepare the ship and some balding human who arrived the second we were about to depart.   WHILE TRAVELING ON THE BOAT Apparently, the elf is extremely old and has travelled this world many times; maybe he knows a way to help me? Thillivern was his name. From past experience, it might be better to get to know each other a bit better before asking for help, since Northfield was a disaster because I rushed it all. Also, since he's an old man I don't really mind him not helping around on the ship. He might hurt his back. The human, Jefferey, seemed nice enough. He helps us out on the ship and doesn't seem too far from my age. I hope we can be friends.   SHIPWRECKED Turns out naval travel isn't all that nice. We were attacked by some other ship, we tried to fight back but we didn't really have a chance. I noticed crewmembers throwing in metal balls in exploding pipes, so I threw in some metal balls as well while the elf aimed the boomstick. These humans have such terrible inventions. Speaking of humans, the poor human traveller was frozen with fear. Or maybe he just didn't understand how the death machines worked, once he got a bucked in his hands he started moving. Anyway, we travellers were the only ones that survived. I tried the emergency whistle I bought in Northpoint, but no one answered. No crewmen were around that still lived, and I gave the ones that drowned a proper burial. Despite no one answering our call, Rea and several crew members are still missing. We will look for them.   SILENCE For the first time in several years, I experienced pure silence. While looking for survivors, we encountered some masked beings in the forest. I shattered the skull of one of them, yet another had taken down Thillivern. As I rushed in to help, one of them slashed me down. It was as if my shell did not exist for his blade. One swing of his arm and there was stillness. As I fell towards the ground, a feeling of peace overcame me. No creatures to pull me into any cursed lakes, no one talking to me without speaking. Nothing at all.   And then there was sound again, I awoke to see Jefferey and the last masked man. I ended whatever life was left in the masked man. Apparantly Jefferey had used my potion of healing to resurrect me, which is much appreciated. Instead of taking it for himself, he used it to save me. What a wonderful action of selflessness. Thillivern survived as well, but he was guarded by some strange wolf creature. Fine with me, I'll just go fishing then.   ARRIVAL AT NIMLOTH After several days of uneventful travel, we arrived in the elven city of Nimloth. Honestly, I haven't been able to focus on much of anything these past few days. On top of that, Jefferey has started asking me about the whispers he's hearing. The voices are spreading to these people as well it seems, or at least it is affecting them. Surely they will soon leave me behind, surely they will soon curse me for the curse I bear. At least I can rest assured that the lake is probably not the danger to my people, it is likely only me.   DEPARTURE TO THE BAZAAR If we wish to travel this continent, we will need gold. At least, this is what Thillivern convinced me of. He's a wise old elf, so I will trust him on his word. He suggested we travel to some bazaar, as we can earn our coin there. He found some merchant, Brinn, who wanted to hire us to escort him safely to 'Andfield', which is apparently some great human city. Anyway, Thillivern arranged for us to take him to the bazaar and no further in exchange for less gold. Fine with us, fine with Brinn, let us be done with this money business and depart to the bazaar.   MISTRUST On the way to this bazaar, I couldn't help but notice Thillivern whispering to Brinn. They suspect me of something.   FIRE We had arrived at the bazaar, and it was engulfed in flames. The masked ones had attacked it several days before our arrival. Now it burned. Instead of going around the bazaar, which now seems to me like the only sane idea, we decided to have a little looksie at what exactly was going on. While we attempted to sneakily inspect the bazaar, our friend Jefferey suffered from the sniffles. He sneezed loudly, attracting the attention of several fellows with masks. Of course, at this little incident, my anger flared up a bit and I couldn't help but express my disappointment in this untimely decision to empty his nose of whatever was bothering it. The masked men approached us with obvious harmful intent, and as I prepared my weapon I saw Thillivern and Jefferey ignite their will to run away. Seriously..? Luckily I had prepared myself, strengthening my mind and body far in advance. I had the pride of all tortles, a wonderful shell, around me to protect me where my allies failed me. Yet a flicker of doubt still ran in my mind. Last time, this shell was as smoke before the blades of these masked creatures. Nothing to do about that now I guess. ... Yet again, one slash was all it took for one of the masked men to cut me down. Why? I asked again, why? Why could this creature cut me so easily, ignoring my shell and slicing me arm open? Why am I not strong enough to survive such a cut? Again, silence was all I heard. This time, the silence was not tranquil. This time, there was no peace. This time, blazing hatred erupted from the depths of my mind. Fire. Not the fire wielded by my shaman ancestry, but a hellish inferno awakened by some ancient and unspeakable evil. As I fell, dying, I willed this horrid fire into being. The first spell I cast as a shaman, and it had nothing to do with the wonders of nature. It was simply a conflagration intended to burn this creature as it had burned me.   I awoke several hours later. Apparently, we had survived this encounter and my body had refused to bleed to death. What I have now is an ugly looking scar on my arm. It will forever remind me of how weak I am.   FRIENDS Well, I may have misjudged these fellows. On the way onward to the dwarven city beyond the bazaar, Jefferey explained how he really sees this part as his friends now. I suppose, when you look at it in that way, we have become pretty decent friends. Of course they ran away on the bazaar, they don't even have shells to protect them. Maybe they don't mistrust me as much as I thought. But again, they have heard the whispers. I have seen them sleep, and it is obvious the nightmares plague them also. As the shaman in Northpoint suddenly changed his attitude towards me, so can these travellers. Regardless, I need these men or I will surely die on this journey.   DELADAR MORDNIN Never in my life have I seen such an impressive sight. Huge statues carved from the mountain, enormous halls decorated with artworks fantastic beyond my imagination. This dwarven city of Deledar Mordnin is greater than any other dwelling I have seen thus far, and I doubt I will ever see any greater. On the topic of greatness, old Thillivern really showed an unexpected side of himself. Apparently, the destruction of the bazaar really hit close to home as he gave a speech to rally the adventurers of Deledar Mordnin to action. He wants to retake the bazaar before any of the great cities dispatches their own army, or something like that. Anyway, I need to find some way to harness the power I used when on the verge of death in the bazaar, for it will surely grant me power if not protection.        
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Xernus
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Purban
Publication Date
19 Dec, 2020
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19 Dec, 2020
Last Update Date
22 Jul, 2021
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