Writings of Roland.

[Stug3]

*This simple book carries only the Ankh of Toran on the cover; the pages are rough paper and the words written neatly in charcoal. *

I believe Vessa would be proud, very proud indeed.
I do not fully understand what has happened of late. I do remember setting up camp and after a small meal laying my head on my pack…Dreams of Dragons and dark armies. I woke to find myself in this small town, Hlint, as I was to discover.
What a place this odd settlement is. Races and faiths all mixed together, on any given day I see Dwarf and Elf engaged in conversation, human and Half-Giant trading metals. I have seen races I did not know existed, Brownies?? Very small and terribly energetic…. Wemic!! My god what a start that was! Half man, half lion. Strange dark Elves, Which I have learned are called Drow, a subterraneian race of Elves many distrust but so far I have had little reason to cast a weary glance their way. Half-Giants, Half-Orcs, Goblins and any manner of summoned beastie roam these streets conducting daily business or just conversing with friends and acquaintances. Many times these Ad-hoc groups form and head off in search of adventure and fortune but some come together for a larger and far greater importance.

I have not spent all of my time observing this town and all of strange a wondrous inhabitants or the odd collection of transient adventurers who pass through on their way to unknown places with unknown agendas.

I have done quite a few things since my ‘arrival’ here. Many of Hint’s inhabitants are in need of help doing something or another and I have taken many an odd job from them in hopes of exploring this area and furthering my knowledge of the world.

My first ‘job’ if you can call it that was a simple task to deliver a letter to a woman named…Carr, I believe…She was easy to find as she spends most of her time by a small pond in town. I next under took a contract to retrieve the towns Tax record from what was said to be the ‘Ratman’…Odd. Was that a title or a description? No matter. I descended in to the town’s sewers for what I believed would be some sort of verbal exchange with the town rat-catcher. A simple matter of explaining he had mistakenly made off with the documents. Easier said than done! Foul smelling and dank, the sewers were awash in waste with every manner of refuse floating in puddles of reeking water. Rats the size of dogs scurried here and there; seemingly drawn by the light of my torch they attacked from every direction. I was forced to flee, my task unfinished. I was able to make my escape to the surface where I tended my wounds and rethought my initial plan of action, as it was woefully inadequate for the task. Better prepared for my next try at retrieving the Tax record. I made my way back down where I was once again assaulted by rats not only rats but also spiders…By Toran I hate spiders!! This I hade not foreseen and once again made my escape. Poisoned, Dastardly stuff. Once I had regained my health I made my third assault on the damnable sewers. This went considerably better than my previous attempts. Making it through to the lowest level I was confronted with a larger more vicious rat of some unknown breed and what I can only assume was the ‘Rat-man’. What a monstrosity! What kind of unwholesome union could create such an abomination! Still believing I may be able to talk the record from him I tried to engage him in conversation only to have him turn on me with teeth and claws bared. There was little choice but to fight. He was a much stronger opponent than I would have guessed and I nearly fell to his onslaught. By luck or by favor I was able to defeat him and secure my ‘prize’……….

My eyes and this charcoal grow heavy I will rest and finish later.

[Stug3]

I was a fool, darned stupid fool!
I should have been writing in this book from the beginning. Why lug it around in my pack if not to keep track of daily occurrences? So much has been done and so many odd and interesting folks have I encountered that I fear and regret some will be lost from my memory. I owe much to many and now I cannot even remember all their names…
Yet there is much I do recall. I could not forget, although I do try. The Crypts.
I was directed by a ‘helpful’ citizen to see a man...Not really sure he is a man at all this may need further investigation… Who was in need of someone to retrieve a certain item of importance to him. Remembering my disastrous undertaking in the sewers I took this task with some hesitation. As seems to be the standard for me of late I was woefully unprepared for the horrors I was soon to be facing. I recalled a conversation I had with Vessa before I left…
 “In your future travels you are likely to discover an intense dislike bordering on hatred for the Undead. Not that Paladins tolerate that sort of business anyhow.”
What did I know about the Undead? Not like I’ve been to many places frequented by the Undead… Until now.
 
If Vessa were here I would ask him to define the word understatement..........

He was right about the intense dislike part. Nearly a frenzy! I waded into them like a madman. Hacking, slashing, turning and bashing. I could not control myself, I knew the odds were not in my favor but I could not stop, I could not let them remain…Over powered, outnumbered and completely surrounded I fell….

[Stug3]

Been quite some time since I last recorded anything in these pages; I must remember to do so more often…several things have happened of late. Many a small outing for this or that… bandits, thinning the number of undead and so forth. I have been able to take control of my ‘undead issue’ and do not let my zeal override commonsense.  I was also able to sock away some coin so that I could purchase some much-needed equipment at Basher’s. Newly outfitted and ready once again for what ever comes my way…
I did participate in what I believe was a turning point in my life, A pilgrimage. Several were eager to attend but few were able to make the trek on the appointed day. I was however abale to make the entire journey; we left from Fort Llast and ended our journey in Pranzis. WHAT A PLACE!! We stopped in many of the Temples along the way to show our willingness to come together with the other faiths and present a united front against the darkness slowly spreading across the land.
At the end of the expedition I had a heated discussion and a lesson in life about the difficulties aligning the races and different faiths under one banner. Constant bickering, petty squabbles and long standing racial tension have kept powerful allies from standing together and becoming what they must become…a truly united power.
I admit how devastatingly ignorant I was and the full weight of the situation has come to bear down on me greatly. I have no experience in politics or in swaying the masses towards a common objective. I have instead decided to bring this alliance together one member at a time; I have begun to find those who will stand with us. This is a monumental undertaking and I fear I may not be up to this task or see it come to fruition in time….

[Stug3]

I was finally able to secure a Cougar pelt for the furrier; my god what an exercise that turned out to be. Believing I knew where Cougars may congregate I set off… as usual I was wrong. After miles of traveling and hours of searching I could find no Cougars. I did however find lots of nasty critters looking for a snack. Namely me!
Empty handed I set course once more for Hlint. Fully aware of the fact I had no idea where to find the elusive Cougars I made many inquiries and after writing down notes and directions I again set out.
This trip proved more fruitful and I returned with the pelt.

[Stug3]

While in the Sielwood Forrest I was attacked by an odd assortment of insects, some spit fire and others emitted a powerful stench. After dispatching them  (a bit tougher than I thought) I was curious as to what made them such an adversary. Using my skinning knife I carefully opened the carcasses. Much of what I found was normal but I did find some pieces that looked ‘odd’. I collected the ‘odd’ parts and departed before any more scuttled out of the trees to accost me further. I made some polite inquiries and found I could actually make things from these ‘parts’; the firebug makes a fine flaming weapon that works well against the undead. Very handy indeed! The others…acid and some sort of coughing powder not so much use for me. Trying my hand at making these has proved tedious at best but I will continue to try.

[Stug3]

I have received disturbing news this day. It seems a bear has fatally mauled a child near Blackford castle, this news although sad was not as surprising as it should be. Thrice today beasts in places I have not seen them before have set me upon. The first attack took place just outside of Fort Llast a Black bear was on me before I took five paces up the road. After a close fight (I was not wearing my armor at the time) I looked around to see if this wayward bear had waylaid anyone else but finding none I continued on my way. I was next confronted on the road to Hlint, as before a Black bear…(Do the Bears have a vendetta against me?) After concluding my business in Hlint I made for Fort Llast again, weary of bears mind you. As I entered the hills west of Hlint two adventures hurried past with nary a greeting… or for that matter a warning as two skeletal champions were hot on their heels. Unarmed and unarmored I was hard pressed to fight I was able to get off a few spells, to little affect. Forced to retreat I made my way to Fort Llast to seek help dispatching these two wandering terrors. With the aid of some local residents these were quickly returned to the grave.
Later I was informed of the child’s death, a sad affair indeed.

I will pray for his family and his soul.

[Stug3]

have been wandering lately; clearing my head of trivial matters and trying to focus on the greater issues we all face. I have begun to prepare for the not so distant future as have many. The Dwarves gather, Rogues congregate, free fighters form militias and even the Giants prepare.  Still I see little preparation in our ranks. Paladins and Clerics of Toran continue their solitary work, with a few exceptions we have not gathered to discuss a plan of action.
The dark faiths wait not. They do not dawdle…they gather, they plan, they scheme. Yet we do not? They have set up front to fund their activities; our destruction hastened along a flood of coin, by those fat with it but blind to its use. It is true many Toranites have done remarkable things and The Shining Hand has new Beacons. Much is expected of these Beacons but their numbers are few.
I have a secret fear that when the time comes for us to lead the charge into battle we may not be prepared to do so….

I pray to the Great Leader; do not let this come to pass, gather your faithful. PREPARE THEM FOR WAR.

[Stug3]

My adventures continue, I was recently involved in a series of interesting events. The original plan was to head to the Greypeak Mountains to retrieve some lost oil for a young lady in Fort Llast. Things changed almost immediately, we instead decided to help a fellow named Jet return to where he had fallen in battle. It was said to be a difficult journey as the area was extremely hostile with many unfriendly creatures, so off we went! Ignorance really is bliss…most of the journey was uneventful. As we drew nearer to our destination we began to encounter a strange creature, an odd mix of goat and man, not very large but extremely fierce. A large and pitched battle soon developed. These goat-men seemed to be everywhere, arrows flew in all directions and no sooner had I turned to meet one threat than another appeared on my undefended flank. This continued for sometime and I began to have serious doubts about the outcome as everyone was badly injured and nearly out of spell and potion. As quickly as it started it ended, dead and dying laying over the field as far as I could see…. thankfully none were my companions. We quickly moved on and secured a safe spot to set up camp and tend to our wounded. After a few hours we pushed out to reach the spot of Jet’s demise, where it was said no light shines and creatures of such awful power dwell they can kill with a look. A small hole was the only entrance and try as I might I could not squeeze through…the rest continued on as I kept throwing myself at the hole in an attempt to get through…I was still trying when they returned with a fully restored Jet, the end of one adventure and the beginning of another. After taking our leave of Jet (who had prior engagements to attend to.) We decided the three of us may not be able to handle the Greypeak run so we decided to adjust our plans and came up with the idea of having a run at some Ogres in the Broken Forest…Sounded good at the time. We arrived in the forest in good spirits and eager for a fight. No sooner did we make contact with a large group of Ogres than one of their mages rounded the corner of a ruin and let fly with spell of cold. With no time to react I took the full brunt of the blast, it was over for me before it even began. I was once again spending quality time with the Soulmother…Returning to Hlint weak as a babe and with a long journey ahead of me I set out to rejoin my companions. We decided to meet in Rangers Vale and I slowly made my way there. Once I arrived we made camp and rested for sometime before heading back to visit my point of passing. We cautiously made our way back to the Broken Forest trying our best to skirt the Ogres until I was returned to my full abilities. Things did not go completely as planned…Ogres appeared out of the forest to assault us very soon after we arrived, my companions fought while I made way to my place of passing. Ogres were gathered in numbers where I needed to go. I made a mad dash and was able to recover before they could bring their weapons to bear. Now fully healed but alone I was no match for their numbers, now bearing in mind that discretion is the better part of valor I ran…. I could not make for my companions as they had more than enough Ogre to go around and were banged up pretty badly. Now being considerably smaller than the pursuing Ogres I figured I might be able to keep ahead of them in the thick brush and close-set trees. With a horde of angry Ogres on my tail and no reinforcements available I continued to run in the opposite direction of my hard pressed companions. Unfortunately I stumbled into more Ogres now I had twice the number in pursuit…and more looming out of the mist ahead of me. Still a head of the first group I ran straight through the new group screaming like a banshee. Apparently startled by my yelling the Ogres were slow to react and I was through them in a flash and without a scratch. Collecting Ogres as if they were free was not part of my plan and I needed a new one quickly. As I came around the corner of some ruins I was confronted with my exhausted and badly wounded companions, I yelled a warning that I was dragging an entire Ogre army behind me as I rocketed past them. Not wanting to lead the following Ogres into a badly mauled group I reversed direction and ran headlong at the leading Ogres. Dodging to the left I whipped past the leading element and came down the line of pursuing Ogres who immediately changed direction to intercept me, thankfully leaving my battered companions alone. Nearly at the point of exhaustion this tactic was not going to last forever and I would eventually have to face the throng of Ogres at my rear. Thankfully my companions used this time to mend their wounds and take the last of their healing draughts healing the worst of their wounds. As I once again came around to their position they yelled they could take on the Ogres. Thank Toran, my legs burned and my chest was on the verge of exploding form the running. Turning to face the onslaught of rapidly gaining Ogres we stood firm as they broke upon us, hacking, slashing, kicking, shields, helms, tooth and nail….
I do not fully remember all the events of the battle, I recall standing in gore to my knees and seeing heaps of torn Ogres surrounding us. We had sustained many wounds and were on the verge of collapse, victory as narrow as it was is still a victory. Exhausted we made for Hlint…

[Stug3]

I have had the odd pleasure of meeting a one legged man in town a few days ago. He seems to have had the misfortune of coming up against some Orcs in the past, they claimed his leg, one of his eyes and apparently damaged his left arm severely. Unable to do much of anything he begs for his daily bread…a sad position indeed. I gave him quite a bit of gold and took him to the Wild Surge Inn for a meal and a warm bed to. While he ate we talked of Toran, he asked if Toran could restore his leg. I could not answer him, as I could not speak of the plans of Gods. I told him Toran must have a reason for the state he finds himself in but to what end I could not guess. I asked him why he begs and does not find work in town; surely some must need mundane tasks completed? His answer was not unexpected. Frail bodied, easily exhausted and missing limbs preclude him from any substantial employment. We continued to talk for some time until he was finished with his meal and wanted to retire to his room. I bid him farewell, good fortunes and made my way to the door.
Though I doubt good fortunes are in his future, I have some ideas to help this poor soul overcome this retched existence, if he will agree I think he will find he can do more than he believes possible…

[Stug3]

*I have attended another meeting to discuss plans for defeating Blood and his minions. I was disgusted by the turnout…or lack there of. I am greatly dismayed by the apparent lack of concern for the future unfolding before Layonara and it’s inhabitants. Many find themselves too busy! Too busy to pull themselves away from menial pursuits to discuss the future, too busy mining metal, gaining fame, counting their coin or brewing ale!  What can be more important than this war! I am dumbfounded as to how anyone could continue on with their daily routine as if this threat looming over us does not concern them… this coming war will affect us all.  As usual a few ideas were put forth on the best ways to conduct operations against Blood’s forces. Still just ideas… no firm plans of action. Not an idea who is to lead them, nothing but talk…again. If talk were a weapon we could defeat Blood today! No more can we afford to speculate and theorize we must commit to a plan of action and see this campaign begun in earnest…leaders must be named and troops gathered! Time is not on our side and everyday Blood’s army grows in number and audacity. How many times must Blood stroll through Hlint laying waste to all who oppose him before we stop dilly-dallying around this subject and get ourselves organized to fight this war before it is too late?  
Name the Generals and allow them to plan their offensives. Place those who will do what must be done in positions of power.
If the Races cannot be united what then…
If Dwarf will not stand with Elf and Elf with Human and Human with Half-Giant then all will fall separately. The time for petty racial conflict is long past; the time for constant bickering and arguing is over. Slap the protests from their mouths beat them about the head until they can see clearly the path they are choosing, the path of their own destruction, hammer into them the understanding that all must be drawn against this most terrible foe. Compel them into action before it is too late. The time of restrained talk is gone and stern direction must replace subtle guidance. Hard decisions require grim determination and sacrifice from all concerned.
Take the war to Blood before he brings it to us. Send out scouts, to probe for his weaknesses and then exploit those weaknesses as we find them. Assemble the Wizards and those adept at the arcane arts to locate spells or rituals to weaken his generals. Task the battle hardened veterans to assault his outposts and garrisons. Releases the roguish to spy; gather what information we can. Instruct the Rangers and protectors of the forests; to make no forests safe for Blood and his army, every foray they make to forage should be met with opposition and ambush. Call up the Militias and Mercenaries, train them and arm them Urge the temples to send their Clerics and Paladins. Troops need leaders who can inspire them for one driven warrior is worth ten uninspired soldiers.
Give us direction at which to strike! Many are of the same mindset we will do what must be done, the Dwarves chomp at the bit to be unleashed all they ask is direct them where to strike…as do we all.

[Stug3]

*My perseverance with Alchemy has begun to pay off. I can now consistently create the useful concoctions obtained from the insects that inhabit the Sielwood Forest. At first I did not believe I would ever develop the skills required to successfully distill the glands from these creatures. Many failures and much frustration were the only thing I had to show for most of my earlier attempts. Twice I set my robes on fire while working with the Fire Beetle and The acid produced by Bombard Beetles is very corrosive and no attempt should be made to wipe up spills or drips as this leads to painful burns and very embarrassing dances. I have also on more than one occasion incapacitated myself while mishandling the powder derived from the Stink Beetle and even spent two hours stuck to the table after a disastrous attempt at working with Ettercap Glands, needless to say I have put an end to working on those until I have more experience… Working on despite the mishaps, misfortune and misery was the correct course of action as the benefits have been more than worth the effort. The fire works exceedingly well against the Undead I often seek. The acid…well I don’t have that much use for it but I may find one sooner or later. The powder is excellent for slowing down pursuers as well as dumfounding archers or crossbowmen. Even with all my recent successes I am still unable to produce the more formidable fire and acid mixtures as some of the ingredients I do not possess but I hope to begin working with those soon enough.