Letters of Rytac

[thefallen]

My Dearest Katelyn,

I'm afraid that I have lost my way again.  I finally stumbled upon a small town yesterday by the name of Lint, or perhaps it is Hint, I am not sure.  I have not explored the entire town, but I do not believe it contains anyone that can help me find you.  I may have to consult with the spirits to put me on the right path again.  Please forgive me my love, for partaking in these dark arts, but I would do anything to find you.  I hope you understand one day, when you read these letters to you.

I did speak with one interesting man last night, at least, I believe he was a man.  I cannot be sure because it was dark and he was cloaked.  There was a darkness about him, not evil, just dark.  This was not surprising once I found out he claimed to be the crypt keeper of the small town.  We talked for a short time and I eventually expressed my desire to consult with the spirits.  He then proceeded to tell me of a fiend that wandered the crypts, specific ones that carried with them an essence.  I can only guess at what type of essence or fiend it might be, but he said that if I brought him an essence, he will show me how it is harnessed.  I do not know if I can use this to gain the information or power I need to continue on, but there is a chance.

I was eager last nigth to find this fiend, so I set out by myself into the crypts.  I'm sorry to say my love, but I was nearly killed.  I am disgusted with myself, all the studying and training that I have done and I am still chased out by a few skeletal undead.  What would my father think, what would you think?  

I am resting now, at the local inn, from my excursion.  Hopefully here I can find someone that will help me retrieve these essences.  I hope however, that they would not expect much pay, I am very low on gold right now.  I might even be forced to do a few odd jobs before I try traveling again, for I know I will need some gold to continue.  

I hope to make some progress today my love, and I will write you soon to tell you of it.  Be safe until I find you Katelyn, please be safe.

With all my love,
Rytac

[thefallen]

Katelyn, My Love,

I pray that these letters one day find you well.  

I am sorry, but I failed last night to recover the essence.  I do not know what might have been going on in the town yesterday, but I could find no one that was interested in helping me.  I barely saw anyone at all actually.  Perhaps there was a festival going on outside of town that I was not aware of.

Regardless, I decided to try to find the essence on my own once again.  This time was much better than the first.  No fiends chased me out of the crypts this time.  In fact, I killed many last night. However, I did not find any creature that contained the essence.  This is not surprising though, I was not able to venture very far down into the crypts before I had exhausted my supply of spells.  It is disheartening.

I made my way out of the crypt and back to the inn to once again prepare my spells.  As I sat there preparing I thought about all those artifacts that my father and I had made.  If I could have had just one of those, I am sure I could blast throught this crypt.  I decided that there must be some way that I can make one myself, so I set out in search of a few different merchants.

I found the tools that I needed to continue my craft, but as I searched I could find no one that sold the common materials, such as clay, wood, or metal.  I finally found out that in this kingdom, the selling of raw materials is against the law.  When I asked why, they told me that no one has a right to sell natural materials that are commonly available to all.  I was told that a group had once taken over some mines and restricted the flow of materials so that they could charge extremely high prices for them.  They had all been killed by decree and the selling of natural materials was outlawed so that no one would do it again.

I admit, I'm glad this can not be done, but now I must gather all the materials myself.  This will take much longer that I planned, but I feel it might be what I have to do to be successful.  I will try again tomorrow to find someone that might help me though.

One other thing I found interesting.  I was told by the innkeeper that I should try the merchant in the inns back room, he had some magic parchment or something like that.  I went to investigate, of course, and was told by this merchant that he did indeed have spells and monster summoning.  He told me he would sell me the "starter deck" for a small price of ten gold pieces.  I thought that he must be refering to some beginner level scrolls so I hastly bought one.  It turns that it is nothing more that a little pouch filled with small pieces of parchment that have creatures and spells depicted on them as well as some writing.  It was a game.  I laughted at my own foolishness, put the cards away for some later time, and went back to my room.  The people here are strange.  Perhaps I will craft them a real puzzle game out of metal for them to pass the time.  The cards may turn out to be interesting though, I just don't have time, or patience, to investigate them further now.

I will be successful tomorrow my love, but if not tomorrow, then the next day.  I will never stop, I promise I will find you and bring you back.  And once I find you, I will be so powerful that no one will ever be able to take you again.

Love,
Rytac

[thefallen]

My Katelyn,

I have fallen sick and did not venture down into the crypts today.  I do not know what illness assails me, but I am confident that rest will keep it at bay.  I did talk with some people today, but none of them were interested in helping me venture into the crypt.

There was one person who mentioned he had just been down there and did indeed find an essence.  I heard this as he was talking to another person down the path.  I tried to hurry towards him and ask him about it, but he vanished around a building when I got there he was gone.  I am so sorry.

It seems that I keep failing at my task, I have no excuse.  I do not think I will be able to venture forth tomorrow, I think I should rest, but I will return soon to that crypt!  I promise you my love, I will never give up.

Love,
Rytac