Small leather bound journal with notes made by Jacchri Abianca

[aragwen]

[SIZE=13]*written on the first page of the journal*[/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]My name is Jacchri Abianca, half-elf ranger from Sielwood.[/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]The entries in this book is hidden by a spell, which was cast by my mother, that could only be broken by someone who knows the secret words that need to be spoken to unhide the entries. So even though the following pages seem empty they are not, but rather just hidden from the eyes of people that don't know the secret words. [/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]In the case of me passing away I entrust this booklet with its knowledge to my very good friend Reef O'hagan, who knows the secret words to unhide the entries. If anyone was to find this journal I would humbly request that the person deliver this journal to Reef as soon as possible. You can find him around Hlint normally and on delivery you will be well compensated in gold by him. [/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]To Reef Well my good friend if you read this it means that I have fallen permanently in the good fight.  [/SIZE][/i][SIZE=13]Firstly I would like to thank you for your good friendship and support.  Secondly pass my goodbyes onto all our friends and may Folian or who they follow protect them in their travels.[/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]I started to keep notes in this journal after my mother told me to do so and hereby give you permission to read this journal [/SIZE][/i][SIZE=13]and decide whether to pass the information on or destroy this journal. You can use your own discretion in regards of passing on any pieces of information to other individuals mentioned in this journal, but I request that you not allow anyone to read this journal entirely.[/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]To unhide the entries on the following pages speak the words that I have given you while on this page. On turning the page the words will appear. As soon as you close the book, the words will be hidden again, but can be unhidden by repeating the process.[/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]Good bye my friend and be safe.[/SIZE][/i]
  [SIZE=13]I pray that Folian watch over my soul wherever it finds itself.[/SIZE][/i]

[aragwen]

 *written on the second page of the journal but not visible*
    My mother says that is always good to keep notes as it reminds one of where you come from and it guides your steps going forward. So I started keeping notes in this journal. She also told me to think back to my past and write down as much as possible of what I remember.
  I was raised by Dlembaer Abianca, a druid ranger from the Sielwood Forest. Dlembaer is not my birth father but rather found me as a baby on his doorstep and raised me as his own. I don't know my exact day of birth but I celebrate the day Dlembaer found my as my birth day, which was 15 Jular 1362.
  Dlembaer has taught me everything about the forest and about things a ranger should know. I still remember clearly the day I first used a short bow, I must have been none older than 4 years of age. The bow was as big as I and was very difficult to shoot with; the arrows merely fell in front of my feet. But with lots of practise and as time progressed I grew stronger and bigger and I got more proficient with the bow. At the age of six I shot my first deer on a hunting trip. Today the longbow is still my preferred weapon of choice. Dlembaer was not one for cities or people and to that extent I did not travel far during my childhood. He was not one for books either so his teachings were about the forests and its inhabitants.
  The day after my 21st birth day I decided it was time to find out more about my heritage. Who were my birth parents? Why did they leave me? Do they still live?
  I decided to start my search in Hlint as that was the closet town where I have been once or twice.

[aragwen]

*written on the third page of the journal but not visible*
  On travelling to Hlint, walking through Sielwood forest I found a brown bear that was caught in a trap. He was obviously hurting and was very angry. It took me a while to calm him down, I think the trout in my pack actually did the trick, once I offered that to him he seemed a bit more calm. After removing his hind leg form the trap I put some ointment on the wound and bandaged it. The bear look into my eyes and oddly I heard him say thank you. I was thinking  that I must have gone crazy, but then the bear said that he will accompany me in gratitude for saving him. I rubbed my eyes and then realised that I could speak to the bear. I told the bear that it was not necessary and that he should go deeper into the forest. He insisted to follow me, I decided it was not going to help to argue. I called him Achane and since that day I had a very good friend and companion.
  On arrival in Hlint I quickly realised that even though I knew quite a lot about the forests and its inhabitants I was still very inexperienced and ill equipped to travel very far. I decided to stay in Hlint for a while to find my feet and maybe meet some travel companions.
  I realised that there was many tasks that could be completed for people in Hlint and that completing these tasks pay very well in gold. At least the gold I started earning I could use to buy food and better equipment. I soon also realised that I could not depend solely on my long bow anymore. I needed to have an alternative weapon for close encounters. I decided to buy a long sword and started to practise using it.
  I started meeting other people, who were very helpful in giving me assistance and information. At first I was very distrustful of many of the people I met, especially since I did not know of goblins, giants, dark elves, halflings. But as I started to get to know them better I found some real friends amongst them. Some of my earliest friends whom I met was Klugger, a half-giant and Kaizer, a human fighter that really knew how to handle a sword. He gave me a couple of pointers on how to handle a sword which was very useful.
  It did not take me long to realise that the world I lived in so long was not a safe place. All sorts of monsters and bad things could be found that will hurt and kill you. I tried not to venture far without friends, but started to learn the surrounding areas and in the process I completed a number of tasks. I also got introduced to Kaizer's friends, a crazy dwarf called Bruenor, a halfling called Tomi and another dwarf called Gloin, who I later learned was the guild master of the Orc Bashers.
  During the battles that I fought I came to the conclusion that my leather armor did not always protect me enough and realised that I should start carrying a shield. It took me quite a while to get use to the heavy shield in one hand, but it did make a big difference in close encounter battles.
  One night I heard people speaking of crafting, I decided that this was something that I should investigate. I soon found the crafting halls and after a bit of experimenting realised that I have some ability to do wood crafting. I started spending more time in the crafting halls and soon was able to make arrow shafts. I practised very hard at wood crafting because it gave me time to reflect and also a possibility to fund my future travels.
  It was also in these craft halls that I met Reef O'hagan and we have become very good friends.

[aragwen]

*written on the fourth page of the journal but not visible*
 I heard about a town called Port Hampshire and decided to travel there. As I was very fearful to travel alone and did not know the route there, I decided to post a message on the board in the Wild Surge Inn requesting an escort. Some very helpful people replied and I met Plenaruis, Brisbane, Vin and Cole Etinfall. I travelled with them to Port Hampshire and was very impressed with the town. In Port Hampshire we were requested to help twins who were busy destroying all the pies. I got the opportunity to travel to another continent, Rilara and the town of Lannisport. And on my return to Hlint I was accompanied by Ashiel, Elrend and Bjornigar.
  Cole and I had a long discussion and he told me about the Orc Bashers and gave me some pointers on crafting.
  Ashiel and I have become very good friends since then and have practised many a time our sneaking abilities in and around Hlint. The orcs to the north of Hlint and the beetles in Sielwood has become a regular place to see if we could sneak around them. She is good fun and I enjoy her company.
  I had accumulated enough gold to afford a new oak long bow which I bought from Pathfinder. It is a very impressive bow and I wished I could craft one myself. I also bought a new iron long sword from Talan. The new weapons and my abilities that have improved vastly over time had started to give me the confidence to travel and explore by myself. This helped my crafting a lot as I could now gather the materials myself.
  I continued to practise and improve my crafting skills till I was able to make my first oak short bow. I was very impressed with myself. I decided it was time to try and join the Orc Bashers. I send a message to Gloin disclosing my interest to join the crafting guild. Shortly after that I was asked by Bruenor, who was also a Basher, to join him privately. I had to take an oath and I was accepted into the Orc Bashers. It was a really proud moment for me. They gave me access to the guild hall in Hampshire which was great, because now I had somewhere else to sleep and also store some of my stuff.
  Joining the bashers gave me the vigour again to become the best bow maker in the world. I practise even harder and organised gathering parties to collect more wood. My efforts was soon rewarded by making more short bows, a long bow and plenty of arrows that was much better than those the merchants sell.
  But I also realised that I needed a house close to Hlint where I could rest and store my crafted bows as well as materials. Hampshire was just too far away to make my base.

[aragwen]

*written on the fifth page of the journal but not visible*
  I have walked around playing with the idea of the house in my head for a couple of days. I also started to enquire about houses and their prices. I quickly realised that there is no way I could afford a house by myself. It also seems that there are no houses available in Hlint. The only ones available were in Haven and Lar. No idea where Lar is, Haven is not to far from Hlint.
  I decided that I needed some partners in buying this house.
  I spoke to Reef, Mender, Ashiel and Slate and they all are very interested in joining the consortium to buy a house. We worked out all the details and the immediate plan of action was to start saving gold. I started selling my bows in front of the bank in Hlint and was amazed how many people were interested in my bows. Very soon the gold started rolling in. It made me very proud to see people appreciate my craftsmanship. I also sold some of my bows to Gloin to be put in the Orc Bashers' Shop. I am certain that I will get my share of the gold for house within a month or two. Oddly it seems there is very high demand for oak shortbows. Perhaps I must look into this in more detail.
  Today I found the reason for the high demand on oak shortbows. It seems Kit in Haven was stocking her armory with these bows. I must have a chat to her and see if we cannot work out some permanent arrangement of me supplying her with oak shortbows and perhaps some other weapons as well.
  I also met someone named Celgar, a cleric of Lucinda. He made me some healing potions in the temple of Lucinda found inside Blackford Castle. First time I have been inside Blackford Castle and I must say it is very impressive. While speaking to him it seems he might be interested to sell his house in Krandor, if he can find a home closer to Blackford Castle. I need to speak with the rest of my partners and also ask Celgar to show me his house.
  I have been so busy lately I have totally forgotten why I actually came to Hlint. I need to focus my attention again on gathering information about my parents and hopefully find them. I am not even sure where to start.

[aragwen]

*written on the sixth page of the journal but not visible*
  I have asked around town, trying to get any information on my parents, but it seems none remember anything. I guess 20 years is a long time for someone to remember anything. Perhaps the information I need is not to be found in Hlint or surrounds. I have heard people speak about Rilara, Dregar and Xantril. These are apparently other continents that can only be reached by boat. I must seek someone out to guide me to these places. I have only been on a boat once or twice before but that was in a group of people and I had no idea where we were actually.
  I was a bit sad today when I could not get any information regarding my parents, but after reflecting for a while, I realised that my life is not bad at all. I have met new people, made some friends, learned a new craft and had the opportunity to see new places and fight some monsters. Perhaps in time I will find my parents, but for now I must focus on my crafting and continue to improve my ability to wield my bow and sword.
  I traveled to the city of Arabel on Xantril today with Kaizer and Bruenor. When we arrived there I was met with a host of people I did not know. I lost count at about forty people, amongst the faces I recognised Plenarius, Brisbane, Gloin and a couple others. Apparently everyone was getting together to deliver some gems to someone. I did not really follow the whole conversation as I was so overwhelmed by all the people gathered there. After a discussion we traveled to some place with a huge tree. We actually entered the tree, where Plenarius and some disappeared for a while. Then next thing I knew we where all in some place filled with blackness and a sort of bridge. After following the path we got to a beautiful place filled with flowers. I felt very peaceful.
  Then I saw something that I have never seen before........a silver dragon....... This dragon spoke to the leaders of our party and we entered a cave. Inside I saw even more dragons....bronze, gold, silver ones. Amongst the dragons were not only full grown ones but also smaller ones, probably babies. After quite a while we left the dragons with some eggs. On our return to the world as I know it, these eggs hatched and some baby dragons were released into our world. It seems they where a gift to assist us in our future battles.
  What a day, seeing so many people, seeing a new continent in our world, seeing a very peaceful place not from this world and seeing dragons. Very interesting day indeed.

[aragwen]

*written on the seventh page of the journal but not visible*
  I have met and become quite good friends with Rolf, a cleric of Mist, and Geir, a great storyteller and not bad in a fight either. Reef and I joined both of them today to go shark fishing. It was a cold and miserable trip. I could not move properly as we were always wading through knee deep water. We could never rest as the cave did not have any dry areas and the water was chilling. We were attacked by many sharks, their teeth were as sharp as swords and they were very quick and agile in the water, it was difficult to attack them never mind killing them. Lucky for me Rolf was there, as I died multiple times from the shark bites, but with the help of Mist he pulled me back from the darkness every time.
  Eventually we managed to kill off the sharks and on entering what seemed like a temple, were met by their leader, Big Lasher. I tried to talk to the leader and was pleasantly surprised when it answered me. I always knew I could talk to bears and other land animals, but sharks I did not realise. But what the shark leader had to say was not so pleasant. He ordered us to leave or die. While still trying to discuss the situation with the leader, it attacked us and was killed after a tough battle. As the shark died it was transformed into an elven woman. Very strange indeed. Rolf wrapped the body in cloth and took it with us and on the return boat trip to Leilon, dropped the body into the sea. It seems he felt some connection to this elven woman, but I have no idea what or why.
  On reaching Leilon, after the group disbanded, I went to the temple of Mist and said a silent prayer of thanks to the lady of the seas for pulling me back from the darkness many times today.
  After resting at the inn, I sat on the bed thinking about the fishing trip. For some reason the sharks continued to see me even when I tried to hide from them. I did not understand this, my leather armor was camouflaged; my steps were soft and sure; nothing in my pack was making a noise; what gave my position away every time. Contemplating this for a while, I suddenly focused on my bow standing in the corner. I picked the bow up and walked around the room focusing on the sounds around me. Then I realised my bow was making a very small noise as it moved around. I then realised what was giving me away the whole time. I immediately ran to the craft house and starting working on a new bow.
  After a couple of hours I was surrounded by half finished bows, pieces of wood, sawdust everywhere and I was covered with fine oak dust from head to toe. But proudly in my hands I held a longbow that did not make a single noise except when fired.
  Very impressed with my ever improving wood crafting ability, I went out into the forest to test my new bow.

[aragwen]

*written on the eighth page of the journal but not visible*
  I received a double dose bad luck today.   Slate told me that his work for the Toran is keeping him very busy and he will have to withdraw from the consortium to buy a house. I then went to see Celgar and he told me that he has withdrawn his house from the market. That meant we had to find another house and a new partner for the consortium. At least my crafting was going very well and lots of people were asking for my bows.
  But then I also had the best day of my life........I found my mother, praise Folian.
  I was just walking around in Hlint when I saw some people including Brisbane and Plenaruis standing at the well talking. I decided to join them. Brisbane started telling a story she heard the other night from Plenarius. It was about a baby boy who was lost when an elven sorceress and human druid was attacked by undead. The elven lady ran away with the baby boy and when safely away left the baby on the porch of a house in Sielwood, to return to her husband to assist in the battle against the undead. When she got back to the spot where they were attacked she saw the horde of undead running away heading for the Bay of Bagira, but what caught her eye was the last one of the undead. He had torn clothes still on his body and she recognised it as her husband's clothes. She realised with a shock that her husband was transformed into something very evil. So gave chase immediately, but they were to fast, she got onto a small boat to follow them on the river.
  Near the Bay of Bigara she saw the undead leader stop and turned to face her, the leader had a satisfied expression on his face. At that moment she realised that her husband was lost forever, taking her bow out she shot one single arrow sure and true while calling out to Folain. The arrow found its target and killed her husband, or at least what used to be her husband, on the spot. She collapsed crying, but soon realised that she must return to find her baby, but alas as she got out of the boat near a lake she was attacked by kobolts. She fought bravely and sensing that defeat was near she threw a gem into the water, calling out some elven words and started running.
  Brisbane ended the tale telling that the legend is that the boy will one day return to find the gem. This boy will be identified by a tattoo that resembles an eagle. As she spoke the last words, my throat turned dry and my hands started shaking. I looked at her and confirmed that she did say eagle tattoo. I showed her my tattoo and wanted more information immediately. She told me to rather speak to Plenarius.
  Plenarius told me that is was merely a bedtime story, but I was convinced this had something to do with my parents. I immediately decided to investigate this further. Some of my friends was standing there with me and offered to assist me. Amongst them were Ashiel, Rawkwins, Remy and Bruenor. After a discussion we decided the only lake that made sense was Lake Alon near Haven Castle. We immediately went there to start searching for information or the gem. After hours of searching the area around the lake we found nothing. While standing on the edge of the lake thinking that this was just another dead end, I saw a trout stick its head out of the water. Using my ability to talk to animals, I spoke to the trout. It told me in few words that a lady was attacked a long time ago and fled towards the castle with a horde of little people chasing her.
  We decided to speak to the guards at Haven, but alas we could not find anyone remembering such an event happening twenty years ago. We decided to enter the Castle and see if anyone inside knew anything. Bruenor and the guards on the inside did not see eye to eye and it seems that once again all was lost. But luckily Rawkwins intervened and the lord of the castle spoke to us. After showing him my tatoo he told me to follow the guards into a room. In the room I was met by an elven woman who looked very ill. I thought she was my mother, but she said that she needed confirmation. She told me to return to the lake and speak some elven words, if I was her son I will find the gem and should return that to her.
  We returned to the lake and after fighting all the kobolts there I stood near the edge and spoke the words
  "Celvlaanmewam tymeananyanla"
  Suddenly a huge blue crab appeared, I wanted to speak to it, but Achane, my bear companion, attacked the crab to protect me. In the remains of the dead crab I found a gem. Very exited I returned to the castle, on entering the elven lady's room I saw that she was really very ill, she could barely speak. Not knowing what to do, I held the gem above her chest and spoke the same words again. A bright light shone from the gem and I could sense something returning to her. She opened her eyes and looked at me. She told me there was one last test. A black snake appeared from nowhere and she told me to kill it with my emotions, while holding onto the gem. I focused all my happiness and sadness into myself and the next moment a missile of fire shot forth from my hands, killing the snake.
  She smiled and hugged me tightly acknowledging me as her son. We spent about an hour, speaking, before she asked me to leave as she needed to regain her strength. I left with joy in my heart as I have found my mother, Deladia Danodel. My mother told me in tears how she had to kill my father, Nathard Kelter. I told her that she did not kill my father, but rather something evil that has taken over his body and that I will seek out this undead leader one day and have our revenge.
  I returned to the inn, thinking on all the things that happened but mostly on how I managed to cast that missile.

[aragwen]

*written on the ninth page of the journal but not visible*
  In the days following finding my mother, we have been spending a lot of time together at Haven Castle. She he been explaining to me more about using the weave and helping me to focus my emotions and channelling the energy into all different kinds of spells. I can now cast the missle without to much trouble. She has also taught me how to cast ray of frost, electric jolt, flare, acid splash and the one that I found very useful resistance which give me better protection against attacks.
  She has also been teaching me the elven language. I find the words very difficult to pronounce, but my mother is a very patient person and she told me that I must just keep on practising. I have travelled to the great library on Voltrex using the portal in Blackford Castle and there I found a book on the elven language with words and their meaning. I decided to copy some of these words into another book that I acquired to track elven words and their meaning.
  Spending so much time with my mother I decided that I needed to be closer to Haven Castle and after discussion with the other members of the consortium we decided to buy a house in Haven. It is a big house with 5 rooms, a kitchen and a large common room. Seeing that my bow selling was going very well we also decided not to find a new person in Slate's place, but that I would rather use the fifth room as a crafting and storeroom. The crafting and time with my mother has been keeping me very busy and it was difficult to find the time to gather materials. Then one night talking to Klugger he told me that he will be starting a gathering business. I immediately signed up and starting placing orders with him. It soon became clear that Klugger needed a place to store his goods and after some negotiation I rented some storage space to him in return for gathering materials.
  The one thing that was turning in my head the last couple of days, was how to combine my arching ability with my newly acquired spell casting ability. Surely I must be able to fire an arrow and similtaneously cast a spell onto the arrow. I think I must travel to the library again and see if I can find information on this.

[aragwen]

*written on the tenth page of the journal but not visible*
  My mother's teachings has learned me a lot of new things. She showed me two new spells today which I find very useful. The one makes me run faster for a short period, very useful if you need to get out of dangerous situations to rethink your actions or  to go and hide in the shadows. The other one is even better, as it focusses my mind to such an extent that my chances of hitting something or someone drastically improves. This helps a lot especially when using my bow from a distance. There is so much to learn from my mother.
  I discussed my theory on combining arching and spell casting with my mother. She just smiled at me and said that I will learn what I need to know when the time is right. It seemed she knew more about this, but was not ready or willing to tell me. She confused me even further when she stated that secret arts are strong within me. Secret arts? What is she talking about? Sometimes she can speak in riddles and not make any sense at all.
  I have been spending a lot of time in the forests and woods, constantly speaking with the animals and helping where I can. I befriended a beautiful spotted leopard in Rangers' Vale and some panthers on Rilara near the river on the outskirts of Wolfswood Forest. I have been studying these animals graceful movements a lot and learned a couple of things from them, such as moving without making any noise, hiding in the shadows of the forest and lots more. It also seems that they can hide so easily due to the colors of the their pelts melting into the surrounding areas. These animals are almost impossible to see at night and if they are hunting their prey dont see them till it is to late. I have always been able to hide in the forests, but now it seems I can do it even better. I have been playing hide and sneak games with the leopard, but it seems he is still much better than I am, but I am learning fast. Perhaps I should find a tailor and inquire if he is able to make a leather armor that could make me melt into the forest as well.
  I have been travelling and exploring the other lands, this world is so much bigger than what I thought initially. The forest on Rilara, called Wolfswood is a very big and contains some very interesting areas. I also met and befriended another ranger there. He has shown me many things in the forest and also warned me of places I should avoid. I have also travelled the lands of Dregar, with some friends from the Orc Bashers, Gloin and Rurik. They showed me many things in these lands, including the Forest of Mist, Pranzis, which it the capital city that houses the King and the Anuroch desert. They also spoke about something called the Rift which is apparently very dangerous. The land of Dregar is very dangerous and minotaurs, bugbears, giants, trolls, very big scorpions and poisonous snakes can be found in this land. I was glad for the experienced company of Gloin and Rurik to protect me and show me all these things.
  The best about the trip to Dregar was that I found mahogany trees which opened a new opportunity for me to try and make some better bows as this wood seems much harder than oak. I have collected some branches and started working this wood. It will take me a while to understand the qualities of this wood and then utilise this to make better bows hopefully.
  I also heard that there is a temple of Folian located on Dregar. Apparently in the Forest of Mist. I have tried to find the temple myself but I fear the goatmen, someone called them Satyrs, in the forest blocks the way. I have tried to sneak past them, but they see me everytime and then shoot lightning at me. Wonder how they do it? I have had a couple of close calls to avoid being killed there. Perhaps I am not ready to see the temple. I am sure Folian will grant me the skill to see his temple when he deems the time is right. Till then I will continue to practise my sneaking skill and continue to try and pass the goatmen. It would be good to see this temple of Longstrider. He who has guided my path and actions for so long.