Secrets of a black heart...the diary of Arwinath Dy'nesifer

[feniox]

OOC: As with many of the other diaries below, this is written merely as a form of entertainment and the information within should not be used in game, because it is a record of the thoughts of my character, things other characters would not know.



Febra 23, 1381
 It has been several weeks now since I made my first steps out into the light, where I first felt the pain of the sunlight on my flesh. It is a pain I have learnt to endure, yet I still do not feel at ease in it rays, however, it is preferable to returning to the underdark, so I will endure the terrible light…for the meanwhile at least.

This is my first diary entry since I stepped onto the surface, and much has happened in the space of time between then and now, I have met many people, and slain many creatures. I have also escaped death multiple times, life on the surface is harder than I had anticipated. The beasts here are as dangerous and aggressive as those from the homeland, perhaps the surface dwellers are not so weak afterall…

The dark expanses and corridors of the underdark are simple with regards to navigation compared to here, many times in the recent weeks have I lost myself within the woods and hills that are scattered all around this place, although I am beginning to learn my way better now. There are many interesting things to be seen in these woods and forests, countless creatures (a large amount of them dangerous) and plants can be found here that are different to those back at home. I find it most interesting to find that the creatures of my Lord - spiders, dwell within these woods, apparently at ease with the surroundings,  they are feared by all life on the surface, and yet hunted at the same time, as both trophies and a source of pleasure. It pains me to discover that the spiders view me as the rest of the surface dwellers and seek to kill me on sight, I can only assume it is a test from my lord, which must be overcome. I must confess that I too have taken the lives of many spiders, but I do not slay them on a whim, I do so in order to extract poison, and I pray to my lord Baraeon Ca’Duz to take care of them, and to forgive me every time I do so.

I have taken up a new craft since my arrival on the surface, I have taken up the process of cutting down and sculpting the trees into weapons of destruction, so far my prowess is nothing remarkable, and I am finding the trade harder than I first expected, but I hope soon to be a master fletcher and woodcrafter. I intend to make a bow so magnificent that all the other archers will go green like goblins with envy, and my enemies to cower in fear!

In addition to crafting, my skill in battle has improved greatly since I have been here, I have improved my stealth ability, allowing me to move around unseen in most places that I have encountered so far. I have also developed a technique of fighting that allows me to catch an enemy unawares and inflict maximum damage by hitting them in the most vulnerable places (I have heard this referred to as a “sneak attack“). I can use this with my bow, but I like nothing more than sneaking behind an enemy and putting my dual blades through them and watched them die with a look of horror and surprise upon their faces.

My techniques at killing must have appeased my lord for he has rewarded me and sent me a companion, one of his creatures, a giant spider which I have given the name Ixithra. Although not the strongest animal, Ixithra and I work well together and he makes a good distraction for enemies allowing me to hit them hard whilst they are preoccupied with him, his webbing is also useful for shooting enemies down as they try to approach.

I have met several other Drow on the surface, although they are not like me. One I discovered who kept mostly to himself, as I do, but he seemed nervous, a trait which can only mean he is weak of both arm and soul. The second I met was a monk, although I do not know what deity or spirit he worships, but I did take note of his strange name, I do not know the origins of it, I only know that I have heard it spoken amongst the humans as being “oriental”. How a Drow comes to have such a name I can only wonder….

I have made other friends here too, all of whom are humans, even the odd surface elf, although the thought of befriending surface elves makes me cringe deep in the depths of my soul, there is benefit to be had in such alliances, they are skilled archers and warriors, their wizards are powerful, and many of them make trustworthy allies. Of all my friends here, there are three who stand out above the others, one a mighty warrior, his face covered in tattoos, he is a fearsome sight to behold, yet too friendly for his own good…

The second, a human ranger, he is skilled with a bow, and yet even he has remarked upon my prowess which he considers greater than his own…he is wise. To begin with we did not get on, I remember one of our first meetings where I almost ended up skinning him alive in the street surrounded by onlookers, he was unwise to cross me in the way that he did, but he backed down and nothing came of it. As circumstances would have it we were made to work together shortly after, my temper was still frayed and I did intent to bait him into a trap and have the lizard men of the swamp butcher him, but as it turned out we came away from the adventure as friends, and have fought together many times since that date.

The third, another human, is a bard. Slightly naïve in his trust of everyone, but a useful ally none the less. He is also a skilled archer, and his songs are inspiring even to me. His only drawback is his constant needs to spurt poetry at us all in his human language, multiple times have I been tempted to grab his throat and remove his tongue with my knife, but I think I will save that for another time, when I no longer have need of his friendship.

Of all the companions I have made on the surface, these are the three most constant, the ones who I fight with regularly, and who have great trust in me, they even defended me in the street when a powerful elven wizard threatened to kill me. However, none of my friends truly know me, they see the polite, kind exterior that I put on when in the company of humans or surface elves, but they do not know things about me. They would all disown me if I confided in them about my poisons, or my lust for destruction. They all know I have an insatiable lust for bloodshed, but they seem to think it the same as the lust for battle of the fighters, rather than the misanthropic urge that it truly is.

Neither do they know about my past, about the events with Horidus and my parents back in the underdark, they do not know the reasons why I left that society, or why I walk amongst them, they see only my exterior, the show I put up, the web of deceit that I would ensnare them with until the time comes when I no longer have use for them. They see only what I want them to see….

Unfortunately, not all surface dwellers are so trusting, and therefore prove to be much harder to manipulate. More than once have I been confronted in the streets and threatened by various paladins, cleric and wizards, all believing themselves to be doing the right thing by the towns by driving me away, little to they know they stir my anger and may one day find themselves with a knife in their back and poison flowing through their veins, torturing them slowly until they die…

On the subject of poison, I was out cutting woods for my bows today (of which I collected 56 logs in total and only returned because neither my ox nor myself could carry more!) when a raven landed nearby carrying a letter for me from another Drow in the area. After a short correspondence with her I learned that treachery may be afoot, apparently she had overheard people talking of me in the streets, discussing the fact that I am Drow (that being the reason she had contacted me). She also knew that I am a crafter of poison, so it would seem that rumours are being whispered about me in the darkness. This disconcerts me, for I have been careful, I was sure to make sure that I have not been watched both whilst making poisons and when I have been taking the necessary components from the spiders. The only way I can think of is if someone had been invisible and had seen me….I must be more careful.

Shortly after I returned to the city of Hlint and ran into this Drow woman who had contacted me, we spoke in private for a while, taking advantage of our mutual language and going (I hope) understood by all passers by. She told me of her desires to be a poison crafter too, I feared she was going to ask for my help, but she didn’t. I will not help another craft poison, I will not kill beautiful spiders and then give the precious venom to others, and I will not teach others the secrets of poison extraction simply for them to stab me in the back with it after.

The thing that worries me now are these rumours, I want to know who it was who was talking about me, the girl hinted that it may have been a ranger, of human descent, which narrows it down a little bit, but I worry about why they were talking about me…could it be that my trusted friends are weaving a tangled web for me just as I am for them? Or could they have been defending my honour? I will have to keep my ear close to the ground from now on until I have some answers….

[feniox]

Today was most intriguing indeed. Something is brooding in the darkness, and soon all of Hlint, maybe even the entire Mistone will feel it’s wrath.

The incident started when I and a group of others had returned to Hlint from Haven mines, we had just had a good run, and left many ogres bleeding their lifeblood into the cold ground of their cavernous hiding place. Upon our return we stood around, conversing about the events of the day, when something most strange happened. A goblin wandered by, and as he did I felt a strange presence from behind me, like a chill up my spine. I turned to discover a shade, well hidden, but it was there! The others questioned me to begin with, but I trusted my eye, I knew I had seen it. Suddenly it reappeared and we quickly surrounded it. As we questioned it, weapons drawn, it seemed to do nothing except stand and repeat the words of the Goblin, over and over and over again, until, all of a sudden it cried I AM FREE! At this point it took a step back started praising one it referred to as “The Shadow Master” before promptly disappearing back into the darkness whence it came.

After a few moments deliberation we decided the best course of action would be to ask around town and see if there were any other reported sightings of shades. Nobody much was around to speak to, so we stood in the town centre and continued our conversation, it was then that the shade reappeared again, again we questioned it to who the shadow master was, and why he had been chosen to be free, again it told us nothing. The only piece of information it let on was that “Soon all the shadows will be set free!” a thought which is both terrifying, yet strangely intriguing at the same time, friend Geir says that our shadow, when freed, is the exact opposite of our mortal self…I can only wonder at what mine would be like.

Shortly after, word began to spread and there was a rather large gathering in the town centre, powerful warriors or all race and religion banding together to share thoughts and information to fight this common enemy. At first I felt a little uncomfortable at how selfless my actions were, but then I came to the conclusion that if I withheld my assistance, it could cost everyone their lives, including mine. As the group stood around recalling what had taken place so far, I saw another goblin in the corner of my eye and promptly chased him down the street. The fear in his eyes reflected on his speech, I did my best to reassure him that he would come to no harm, then I pressed him for all the information he knew about the first Goblin who was named “Squee” (something I only know because he seemed to refer to himself in third person, a trait I have noticed on several goblins).

My conversation with the goblin was brief, yet useful. I learned that Squee is a goblin shaman, even possessed over “the helmet” who intends to help the second Goblin find his tribe, the stonecave tribe. I also learned that Squee likes to spend his time in the sewer, but apart from that I learned no information as to his origin, or the extent of his involvement.

I returned with this information to the group, several of the wiser ones (note to self - why are the wise ones always the elven group members?) took the information on board, some of the others dismissed goblin involvement entirely and implied I had wasted my time, the fools! As I tried to explain, it was better to investigate and to establish the involvement of Goblins before ruling them out, rather than just dismissing them. I wanted to understand the reason why this Goblin was chosen rather than someone of power and renown such as Brutus Clawfoot. The most sensible solution was that the shadow master was testing his strength, or working his way up, starting with the goblin, before moving onto humans and then demi-humans. I was happy to accept this answer as I has serious doubts that any goblin can harness such power…though I do not root out the possibility that the shadow master chose them for some other reason…maybe I should investigate the caves outside of Hlint…

One of the group said all she had heard previously of the shadow master was that he is one who has the powers to control the shadows of others by tricking them into believing they are free, and then using them as his pawns. I decided that only a necromancer or similar would have the power to do this, I then mentioned the recent events, that of the mummy attacks (of which I have seen nothing for myself) and the vampires I had previously encountered with friends in the broken forest.  It seemed obvious to me that three such events in the same area, all involving the undead, could hardly be isolated incidents, and had to be connected in some way, this idea was shot down by a specific party member too who said “that’s what he wants us to think”, which whilst being a possibility, I find unlikely. Could it really be that there are two or more beings in the area powerful enough to control the dead and the shadows? Even vampires!? I find the idea unlikely, and even more worrying than the thought of there just being one…

I am sure that tomorrow will bring more questions to this mystery, and probably less answers. I will retire now in the knowledge that I was instrumental in this mystery, and that I have done all I can to prevent it, now I must sit and wonder what terrible evil is preparing to be unleashed, and what are my chances of survival…..