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*Phyress sits down at the small camp in Fort Gorge and warily eyes Angela and Alantha for a moment before she takes a bite off an apple and takes out her journal, ink and quill. After making sure they are busy otherwise she opens her journal, flips through it to find a blank page and starts writing a new entry.*

-Sunra, Novlar 1, 1456-

The past few months really have been rather eventful, just like the exploration into the Shadow Temple last night. I actually did not expect much to happen when I followed Trouble’s note to Fort Gorge. The note simply said meet in Fort Gorge as soon as possible and so I hurried there. Well I really had to hurry to make it in time as I was still around Prantz. Why I was in Prantz recently I am going to explain a little later. First I want to focus on my latest exploration into the Shadow Temple in the Orsgaunt Mountains. Even though I hurried I did not find anyone in Fort Gorge. I asked a little around and got to know that a group of adventurers left like a few hours before I arrived. Taking my bet on they headed farther into the mountains past all these fire giants, I waited at the campfire for their return. At least that way I was able to hear the story of their latest adventure. Oddly I only waited there for an hour before Storold, Amanda, Trouble, Ell, Alantha and Angela returned to the campfire. Sadly Amanda fell to some pit dwellers and therefore they headed back for Amanda to recover at the secure spot in Fort Gorge. Naturally Angela started teasing Trouble and me about me being his lover and whatsoever. But hey I know Angela, she is just making fun and you don’t have to take her all too serious. I don’t really take serious what she usually is babbling about as it is mostly teasing and making fun anyway, but her skill with the rapier is impressive. She is the most skilled person I ever met with a rapier and she can beat the hell out of me. I really mean it. If I listen to what people say then I am skilled in comparison to others, but if I compare myself to her then I am a wimp and the most unskilled person on whole Layonara. I know I am exaggerating, but the truth is that I see her as the most skilled person with the blade and I still have a lot to learn to ever reach such a skill with my blade. Also I am curious about what kind of rapier she uses at all. I use a blade originally called “Mercykiller”, but I call it “Maiden’s Mercy” which is also enhanced with the strongest acid enhancement around. Bet you hers is way better than mine though, but I love my blade as it is right now, especially due to its special coating. I don’t really need a rapier made out of mithril at the moment anyway, besides it is a long exhausting journey to reach it far down in the Deep anyway. But well, back to my original topic, the adventure!

While Amanda recovered from her recent death and Angela was teasing Trouble and me, Aerimor passed by as well and we teamed up, once Amanda was fully herself again. We all prepared and then headed into the Shadow Temple, once we took care of some fire giants, as well as some monks, until we reached their monastery. Is it a real monastery? I don’t know for sure, but I will call it a monastery anyway. They are monks and they usually belong to a monastery of some kind. It was not like with Trouble, Ell, Amanda and Drexia when we headed there last time. At some point we had to turn around and leave the monastery for our own sake. However, we dispatched those who tried to stop us quickly and we soon found ourselves in the lower levels of the monastery, a place I’ve never been before and I have to say it is a very interesting place and I should do some researches about its origin. Pretty much as with the one tomb down in the cave on Tilmar where the Al’Noth is all upside-down. Well, down in the monastery we had to fight strange elemental fogs. They looked like shadows of themselves and rather empty. Due to their consistence it was hard to harm them as they had no body at all and therefore I was not able to harm them physically. It was like fighting fog. You can see exactly the small particles swirling around where your blade cut through the air, but nothing else ever happens. To my luck they were not immune to elemental damage though, so I was able to defeat them with the enhancement and enchantment on my blade, luckily. I tried my very best do foresee their movements and dodge right under their attacks, but sometimes I was just too slow, even now where my anticipation improved a great deal. More about my training later though. However, if the shadows hit, then they hit hard and I fear that without all those protections casted by the mages and Ell I’d be long dead already. They seemed to try draining the life out of us. Luckily we were protected against such attempts though. The whole exploration was very interesting, yet scary with all those shadows lurking about and we also met some other sorts of elementals, along with more monks who were no thread compared to the shadows though. Without Angela and the Ravens it would have looked way different though. I don’t know if we fully explored the lower levels of the monastery, but what I saw was enough for now. It is very thrilling without doubt, but not that much suited for me, at least not yet. I will probably return there as some point though. But not for the next few months, I think. On our trip we also found a lovely book and Alantha told us it can improve one’s physical strength. Every one of us was interested but in the end Ell won it. I am sure she can put it to use though so I am not worried about it there and I don’t mind her having it. If Drachus won that book it looked very different though. Ever since he “cheated” himself to the headband that improves ones smartness he pretty much lost a lot of points of reputation if you ask me. But then I at least got a healing potion before we all departed. I also asked Alantha if she can enchant my new robe with a Shadow Shield, a very useful spell and both Amanda and Trouble told me to go for a Shadow Shield. I don’t know how the robes work, but there has to be some very strong magic going on. As far as I understood it stores a spell casted on it and the wearer can trigger the spell effect. This may be a blessing, a Stoneskin, Shadow Shield or whatever comes in handy.

I think many envy me for actually having such a robe. I think they are called Sequencer’s Robes. To my knowledge there are not many robes around and due to one can store a spell in it and use it every once a day, it is rather useful. I know G’ork has one as well, but other than that, no idea, really. Amanda, Drexia, Ell and I found it on an exploration to the Skullcrasher Cave. The cave is located in the Cloven Mountains where giants roam and caused Maran and me quite some trouble in our younger days when we were still a bit more inexperienced than we are now. The cave was full of earth genasi and more giants. Luckily Amanda knows a spell to banish them quickly. I think she said the banished them or so. Powerful magic anyway. Well, that left the rest of us to deal with the giants though which was no big threat at all, even though my anticipation was not that good back then. I evaded most of the attacks easily and leaped into the giants again and again until we defeated them all. It was a very thrilling expedition as I have never been in this cave before and it was full of giants and genasi. At the very end of the cave Amanda picked up the robes, along with some gloves. Back in Fort Miritrix Drexia got the gloves as she had a real use for them. The gloves were enhanced and very much looked like those monk gloves they use for fighting. Seeing Drexia is a monk, too, she very well deserved them and there were no objections from Amanda, Ell or me. Then we got to the robes and Amanda explained how they work. As a fighter the robe is even more interesting to me as I could store a ward on it and use it in battle, like Shadow Shield or Stoneskin, or Undeath’s Eternal Foe. As Ell passed on it and Drexia was pleased with the gloves, it was just Amanda and me. She then asked me if I was really going to make use of it and I told her she could bet on it. It would be silly not to use such a powerful armor. She then passed on it as well as her only real purpose was putting Undeath’s Eternal Foe on it and she thought I needed it more than her. How right she was and I really appreciate that she let me have the robes. A few days later Trouble casted a greater Stoneskin on it, but I somehow was not able to trigger said spell. Apparently I also need a specific spell component for some spells. Well, after Alantha stored a Shadow Shield on my robes I tried it and it works just fine. I have no idea how long the spell will last though. I will have to find it out later. I think Aerimor, Amanda and Alantha want one as well. Alantha later told me to let her know if I ever find a spare robe. She’d offer a great reward for a trade. I told her if I ever find a second one, I will let her know. Even if I had no use for mine I can’t hand it over to her as Amanda, Drexia, Ell and I agreed on that the robe is never to be sold or traded. Only the four of us were allowed to possess it. Fine with me. I have not the slightest intention to even give it away anyway. The robe is far too useful and I can make use of it. Alantha also told me not to only rely on it as it can be easily dispelled and therefore would leave me without protection.

My aunt Alantha taking care of me, it is kind of cute. Well the whole thing is rather cute. I don’t know how we got to it or who made it up, but it came out Angela is my mother and Storold my father. I think it was because someone said I bleed as much as Storold and have the skill with the blade of Angela. Well not her skill but I know how to use my blade, just like Angela. So now we make fun about Storold being my father and Angela being my mother. So Alantha asked me once we were back in Fort Gorge if I was Angela’s daughter she was related to Storold in any way and what she would be. Actually she would be my step-mother, but I think I rather call her aunt. We all know the whole thing is pretty much made up, but it is rather funny if I run to Storold and complain about something. Last time I complained about wanting to have a fine set of clothes reinforced with mithril. I did not get it though, but he told me I could buy his old cloak he does not need anymore. As far as I know it is called “Jorel’s Sheath”, but don’t ask me about who he is. I will have to do some research about this Jorel. Maybe Storold knows about him, though. However, I keep on forgetting to remind him about the cloak and therefore we actually did not settle down for a deal, yet. On the trip to the Shadow Temple Angela mentioned that it is her right to question about my new boyfriend. After all they are my “parents”, what Storold seconded. It is nice how rumors spread so I simply teased Angela about that it could be a girl as well. Not that I am into a girl but no one really knows about Caerwyn anyway, so I simply said maybe.

Not many know about Caerwyn and me and I think I only told Trouble and Ell about it, and only very few details. Caerwyn and I always respected each other and did not really care about what others are saying about someone. Well I don’t really care what rumors say about me but I know that some people don’t think highly of me. I don’t think Fehriel loves me after he was badmouthing my skill with the rapier on an expedition to the Great Rift and told me I could not harm a thing with it. Hey, no one calls my blade a knife, except Trouble and Maran. I know they just tease me with it, but Fehriel was pretty much serious about it. Then he was babbling something in elven with someone else while we were taking a breather and I asked him kindly to please talk in common as not everyone understands elven. I know I don’t understand elven. He simply barked at me to simply learn elven. How rude. Later Oma thunderclapped the group for going on in speaking elven and well, he then made the mistake to threaten Oma right next to me. No one threatens a friend of me right in front of me so I threatened him, too. Actually I was just stating that if he touches Oma, I’ll move him over to a world of pain. Oddly he left soon after that without losing any further word. After he left the group worked a lot better together and I think he now dislikes me for it. Of course we could have handled it by a duel, but I think he was afraid of being beaten down by poor innocent and fragile me. However, as I already mentioned Caerwyn and I respected each other a lot and I started to develop feeling that went past a normal friendship. At some point I met him in Vale in the Forest of Fogs as he wanted to ask me something important. It was about investigations he wanted to do about G’ork and as he knew he and I are comrades he wanted to ask for my approval first. I did not have to, yet it was cute. I mean he is free to do whatever he wants to and does not need to ask me for approval. I heard rumors about G’ork getting himself into trouble and he was searched in some parts of Dregar. Entering Lor was almost like trying to get into the city of Prantz. Anyway, before we departed again I asked him if he wanted to head to a bell together with me, which really embarrassed me. It is not like I never felt anything like that before, but after Trouble only wanted me for his fun and Snagnor betrayed me and played with the lives of our group I took some distances into relationships and thought for some time that they just use us women. Unlike with other women, like with Richelle, Tyrith and Lywn. I feel safe around them and know they would never betray me. Well after what happened in Nel and us being honored with the title of “Shields of Nel” our bond grew even stronger. Well I felt like I could trust Caerwyn and felt safe and respected around him and then I eventually asked if he liked to accompany me to a ball. He immediately asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him. Well I would not call it a date, but I guess it was more or less. He did not seem to mind going out with me.

A few weeks later we met in Port Hempstead where he asked me out to accompany him to the “Becoming the Beast” event, a ball for the wedding of Aylana and Benji. I was embarrassed he really wanted to head out there with me and soon we found ourselves making fun of possible costumes as one was supposed to show up either as an animal of the woods, or out of the myth. I did not know what costume to choose. I could have gone as a fairy, a dryad, a wolf or whatever. Honestly, I had no idea at all. A week before the ball we met in out of Prantz and decided to take a stroll in the woods. We therefore headed out to Corax Lake and then through the Forest of Fogs which was -oh wonder- filled with giants and I was not in the mood to sneak past them, even as I could easily do so, but it has been quite some time since Caerwyn and I fought back to back, trusting the other to guard ones back. We did just fine, just him and me. Once we reached Vale we washed ourselves the blood of the giants off and then continued to move deeper into the woods, the sacred wood close to Folian’s Temple which most are not aware of. It is a lovely place and peaceful. Everything seems to live in harmony. We talked a lot about what happened to us and also about our feelings and he made me blush several times. It really had been some time I enjoyed the presence of a man again. It was lovely and at some point I fell asleep and curled up under the tree at the small pond within Folian’s Wood. I think I did not sleep that good for quite some time in the open again. When I woke up Caerwyn was long gone again and being sad about his absence I left the woods again.

And just a week later the ball took place. As I was busy in Nel before I already was a little late when I left and I still had to settle for a costume! So when I finally made it over to Katherian and entered the shop, I found a note from Caerwyn, stating he picked two costumes for me already. I just had to choose one of them and pay the merchant for it. One was a dryad, the other one a cute little foxy maiden with a quiver on her back. Blond does not suit me very well so I went with foxy. The costume was lovely anyway. As fast as the costume allowed I hurried over to the wedding reception where I saw many gathered already, most of them in costumes, too. Caerwyn was unmistakably the big fox, like he said already on the note. Amanda had some butterfly wings attached, Ell had black dragon wings and I think she wore darker clothing, too. It really suits her, the darker clothing that is. Trouble said he wanted to show up as well, but I did not see him present. Maybe he had a full-body-suit as I did and therefore was not able to spot him at all. Angela and Storold were there, too. Many other people were present and I am afraid I don’t remember all of them. More important was the big fox anyway. The ceremony itself was lovely, even though Essa’s singing almost ruined the ceremony. Maybe she drank too much wine before the ceremony started. Once the ceremony was over Caerwyn and I congratulated the married couple before we left the party and headed to the Path of Elemental Balance where we had a great view down. During the ceremony we already whispered to each other and both of us blushed under our masks more than once. So while we stood there he slowly took off his mask, then mine and our lips softly touched and I melted into his arms. The warmth, the joy, the pleasure, it is indescribable. Some things just cannot be described by words and some things should never be tried to describe as it would ruin everything and the special moment. All I will say here is that it was breathtaking. It has been quite some time I kissed a man. Did I ever kiss a man? No, I don’t think so. The last one I kissed was when I was still a little brat and played a prank on someone. Well, actually I kissed Jaelle a few years back when we pulled a stunt on Maran, but then she is a woman and not a man. I am just saying as that’s the last kiss I remember. Ever since the ball we meet each other more frequently. We care for each other but it is still too early to say if this will last. But hey, I have to help him with decorating his house and there is still one room available he has no plans for just yet. For now I enjoy his warmth and his embraces and our romance. Only time will tell how this turns out. After all living with me might not be that easy. I still think I scare men away.

Not like with women like Sonya, though. I took a stroll around Dregar when I took a small rest at Corax Lake, where another woman was sitting around, probably bored as hell. Well she was quite cheery and in a good mood. I liked her from first sight, something that doesn’t happen all too often as most are just looking for others to fight and don’t even care about ones name, why one chose one weapon over the other and the whole background. As long as they fight a battle they are pleased with the world and themselves. Naturally I also don’t mind battles, but then I am not restlessly seeking battle after battle. If I fight too much and a too short period of time I become weary of it. Anyway, Sonya was looking for a comrade for a good battle, but before we started we talked about preferences in armor and weaponry. Unlike me Sonya would be a suitable student for Arngrim. Her favored weapon is a greatsword and she currently fights in a in a way too heavy half plate. I told her I could not wield either, even though I was trained with them, with emphasis on was! I did not wear heavy armors or weapons in ages and bet you I could hardly even move around with such heavy gear. I mean even light leathers decrease my nimbleness and therefore can’t dodge any incoming blows right in time. However, Sonya prefers heavy armors as well as big weapons which are absolutely her choice and no objections from my side, but naturally she started giggling about I could not harm giants with such a fragile blade as a rapier and she’d finish them off way faster. She even took a bet on it about 50 True. Needless to say I won the competition as we stormed their camp. I think the result was twenty to one or two. I am not entirely sure about it, but I pretty much won and earned her respect. It was lovely to fight along with her though as she has a lovely voice and her songs encourage me in battle. Everything went fine, but then we entered the cave close to their camp and things turned ugly. There were three giants blocking or passage further down the cave. There were two giants with axes or their fists and one archer. We held our position on a well secured spot and one of the giants spotted me, running towards us without giving commands to its fellow giants. He ran into our blades and was killed within a snatch. Knowing the archers was the bigger threat for both of us I leaped into it. Sadly the giant managed to fire two bolts at Sonya who fell within a few moments. Cursing the giants I pushed my blade into its lungs and knocked it down, focusing on the other giant who was first knocked down, then knocked out within seconds. Sadly I did not have any scrolls to help her. There were two bolts sticking out of her chest. Two bolts that should have been fired at me! I am a big girl, I can endure two bolts. Poor Sonya. I hope the next time we head out for an adventure are more pleasant for both of us. I feel somehow guilty that they focused on her and not on me.

While I am writing down my experiences in battle here right now, I should also write down about my progress with certain techniques in battle. I know Trouble always rolls his eyes when I tell him what technique I am currently trying to improve and my progress. If I did not improve my techniques and skill with the blade in the past I would be long dead already. The more I improve myself the more reliable I am in a huge battle and one should not forget that there are still the Drachs, the Dragon Stealers and the Green Dragon Cult which are all causing problems. However, the past years I focused on improving my anticipation in order to foresee their movements to dodge right under their attacks. I know I already managed the technique years ago, but there was still a lot of room for improvisations. It took me quite some time to figure it out and caused me the one or other headache, but in the end I succeeded and can dodge any incoming blows more easily. Most of it was just training though, as one has to be smart to anticipate any movements. The smarter I am, the more I benefit from this technique and their movements are easier to foresee. I know I already was able to do so years back, but I can use this technique more effectively as it is easier for me to anticipate these days. Also I focused a bit more on my attacks. I know Arngrim once told me one can use the remaining force of an attack on another opponent if you just defeated one. It takes quite some strength and coordination to perform such an attack. If I recall correctly then Arngrim called this technique Cleave. The coordination to learn this technique was rather easy. I mean I dance more or less on the battlefield, more in the air than on the ground and that already requires nimbleness and coordination as well as balance. I just had to put some more strength in the last attack when I defeat an opponent to pull the blade around and target on my next opponent. As I already say, practice is everything!

I also benefit from some new gear I got in the past few years. I got a new belt that improves my limberness even more and also grants me protection from any hold spells, like Trouble’s Stone Hold, or of those which can slow me down. Basically it does the same as the green feet spell does. Along that Maran managed to make me a ring which also enhances my grace, as well as something that helps me to resist acid. And everything out of my emeralds I gave him earlier to make those things for me. He did a lovely job and I hugged him for doing so. It is still nice to see how he flushes if I invade his personal space. But more important: I finally possess fine clothes reinforced with mithril! Tegan did a lovely job on it. I already gave her the mithril and right now I am collecting some silk for her. I have to pay it off after all and I really owe her. My new equipment works lovely, and I cannot wait to finally settle for a trade with my father to get a hold of his old cloak, too. The new equipment already helped me in the battles I fought so far, like down in the Shadow Temple or in the Forest of Fogs.

Unfortunately I did not have my new armor when Trouble, Ell and I ventured down in the one cave on Tilmar where the Al’Noth is crazy. The cave is filled with giants and normally that would not be such a problem, but it is hard to fight off like six fighters of them who all block the bridge and therefore also the way to their twenty archers, no kidding! Been there, seen that, had arrows everywhere, like every one of us three! Bet you, it was no fun at all. As our wards were gone, Trouble and Ell tried to cast spells so we had at least the most basic protections on us, like Bark- and Stoneskin. Thinking about it now it was very hilarious. Ell fireballed Trouble like twice or thrice, he turned himself to a penguin and a chicken and I was turned twice into a chicken and once into a penguin. If the giants spotted us in our attempt to renew our protections they’d have died laughing. As I already said, it was quite hilarious and in the end we eventually managed to be warded by the most basic spells. We stormed the bridge and defeated them in a long and painful fight, but in the process they blinded me and I had to rely on my other senses in battle which is easy for me as I used to fight blindfolded to sharpen my other senses in case I am not able to see an opponent, may it be because I am blinded or them invisible. Once out of the cave we found ourselves in the forest again and soon we had some company in form of some pit dwellers. I did not really see them as I was still blinded as I had to fight them, but after we defeated them we settled for a breather and Ell took take of my temporary blindness. After the rest we prepared for the way ahead of us and marched on. The spiders were no threat at all, but then we faced more pit dwellers. The first few were easily defeated, but then a larger one showed up. I ran towards it, my grip tight on the hilt of my blade. Just in the moment as I wanted to leap into it, I eyed it and all of a sudden I panicked and ran away. I cannot help it but such things and undead still give me the creeps! I really wanted to help Trouble and Ell with the fiend, but I was too scared to even move one step towards it, so I had to watch the dweller giving Trouble and Ell a hard time. It was my battle! I am the one who has to stand the ground and not run away hiding because I am scared of something. I hate it. I abandon those I want to help just because I am scared. Sometimes I am stronger, but those creepy things scare me far too often, really. Being easily scared also caused us to retreat out of the cave once we were in. It was full of skeletons and well, I am not all too keen on them and naturally you saw me running around screaming more frequently than facing them. Seeing I was needed on the front and not in the back hiding we decided it was better to just leave it be for now and return to this weird place another time, and hopefully better prepared. Well with my whole new equipment it should be easier to defeat at least all those giants. I just need to find a way not to be scared so easily.

Talking about being scared. I also had a rather strange encounter a few months ago. I was in Hlint with some other adventurers and someone was looking for some help. Well as I was around town I volunteered. Apparently a caravan found a naked old man out of town and brought them over to Ilsare’s Temple in Hlint where he was drooling at the fountain which seemed to be the only thing to calm him down. Also he was ill, but the priests at the temple had no idea what it was, even as they checked him all over several times. Nothing was known about the man, either. He just sat drooling in front of the fountain. So now our task was to move him over to the Aeridinite hospital in Krandor. One would think this as easy, but it was in no way. Once there was no water around him he kicked around himself and whatever. Jennara managed to muster a cart which the present dwarves filled with water. One druid changed into a water elemental and got his attention and the druid succeeded in getting the man in the water-filled cart where he toyed a little around in the water, apparently all pleased with himself and the world. But then we screwed up when the druid left the cart and changed back to a dwarf. Now it was time for the man to freak out and punched holes in the cart with his bare fists. Jennara tried to stop him and was thrown away quite some distance. The punch that hit her must have hurt a lot, even to Jennara. Amanda and Storold finally managed to calm him with an illusion of a waterfall or the fountain back at the temple. With some other hold-ups we eventually managed to reach the hospital where the healer was going to run some tests on him. According to Jennara and some others it could be possible that the man was walking the Path of the Claw. Well, he was. But before we got to know about it we had to find some ingredients for Argile the Aeridinite who took care about the feverish man. At some point he woke up and told us some story I already forgot about again. If you ask me it did not make any sense and therefore I forgot. Anyway, He mentioned the name “Cyn Chen” before the once feverish man casted a spell, ran out, changed into a snake and vanished into the seas. Who exactly this Cyn Chen is, we did not know. It just seems that the man apparently is a cultist and now succeeded the Path of the Claw, oh joy.

Well, months later I heard about rumors about Phal on Belinara. Apparently they pretty much closed the city and no one is allowed to enter or to leave town. There is an exception for merchants though, but apparently the guards control ever single merchant wanting to enter town. So in order to find out what was going on in town we somehow had to infiltrate it and you bet, everyone had a better idea than the other so we ended up discussing for ages, no kidding! In the end we settled for the plan we came up with in the first hour of our meeting. In the end we decided that only a few of us should try to make our way into Phal. There were two teams. The first wanted to infiltrate Phal through the gate, the other group wanted to take a ship and sail to Phal. Jaelle, Trouble, Caerwyn and Ell went into town by feet, while Argali, Fenrir and I took one of the Raven’s ships, some wares and entered the port of Phal. It was important to find the one or other good and reliable source of information without causing attention of the guards and there were many guards around. Even before we entered the docks we were controlled by some Drachs. Everything with our wares and ship was fine so we were allowed to enter port. Well, once the mooring took place Argali and I found a dock worker which we offered work as we had to move some wares so Fenrir, our Master Dwarf and merchant could sell his various goods. The worker was kind enough to show us around town. While Argali was getting information of him I headed over to the merchants who appraised their goods. While I was searching for nothing particular I heard several interesting things from the citizens and merchants. Ever since the lockdown the dragon Bastion has been missing and never been seen around anymore. The citizens are afraid something happened to him. The lookdown lasted for two weeks but even after the gates were opened again Bastion was not seen around just yet. Also I gathered that the Lord Nevsonger, who also was responsible for the military lockdown of Phal got visit by a woman recently. I did not find out anything specific about the lady, though. Later in the best inn in Phal I spotted some familiar faces, even though some of them wore a nice disguise. From what I heard Trouble and Ell were some farmers, trying to sell their potatoes. Trouble wore a pretty nice apron, too. Jaelle was a pregnant woman and Caerwyn probably the father. While Argali and I tasted the splendid ale in the tavern we also found out that the lady who visited Lord Nevsonger was said Cyn Chen. She is apparently the mistress of Tesak, also being called the “Dragon’s Fang”. Well what to make out of it, I don’t know. I only know that there are some things going on in Phal or in Khul in general that might not be all too pleasant for us at all. But well, we should meet again to discuss things. Maybe someone did some more research and found out more about the “Dragon’s Fang” Cyn Chen.

But well, the whole Path of the Claw and infiltration of Phal happened before Caerwyn and I kissed each other at the Path of Elemental Balance and I really prefer kissing Caerwyn over worrying about what is going on in Phal, yet I have to keep my eyes and ears open for any information regarding the situation. And there are also other things to do, like rescuing a little girl who was kidnapped on a story telling night.

I knew I saw some odd things already, but the kidnapping of the little girl tops at least two thirds of the odd stories and adventures I came across already. There were some carers together with like twenty children and their little camp had a horror theme and one of the carers told them a horror story about a cursed woman from the day she was born, an aberration. She was kind of bloodthirsty and also bit her father. He then found a way to ban her away or whatever. I was busy looking shyly over to Caerwyn from time to time and did not really pay attention to the whole story. I know it had something to do with his blood and apples. And then one of the girls, her name was Rosie, was missing and we offered our help. We soon found a hole in the ground and descended. Once we were able to see again we found ourselves in an odd place. It was like in a bad dream, just this one was real, at least it felt that way and the girl was really missing. On our way to rescue the child we had to fight some odd creatures which seemed to be made out of rye. At some point we found ourselves in a cave where we had to defeat a spider so a little girl could tell us where to find the girl, or the witch for that matter. Then we passed a house with a girl dressed all in red in front. She wanted us to kill her grandmother, but then she attacked us and we were forced to kill her and her wolves. Her grandmother was released to be rid of her granddaughter and showed us the entrance to a cave under water where the witch roams. After some time we found the girl and a little later a huge mirror. And then of course the witch showed up. Needless to say I was scared by her and I was mad at Jaelle. She simply casted a Thunderclap into the ongoing battle and stunned me and some others as well. If we were protected properly it did not really matter but someone forgot to cast twirly so once I was back focusing on the witch I was running away from her again, all afraid of something I cannot even recall anymore. But well, in the end everything went fine and we brought Rosie back to the camp. One of the weirdest expeditions ever!

But well, I still live and keep on living. Let’s see what happens next. Maybe I should start thinking about another Night of Duels? After all the first time was fun, even though making up the rules gave me the one or other headache. But then I want to see how I fare in duels with my new equipment now and I hope I do better against G’ork this time. I will probably dodge more of his attacks now, but I fear he will cut right through my armor and I won’t really get through his. But well, we’ll see.

*Phyress closes her journal, stuffs everything away and readies herself to leave Fort Gorge for now. For now Phyress travels back to Nel to arrange some things that are still left undone and really require her attention.*

Development Journals and Discussion / Re: Journal of Phyress Sylphide

« on: November 02, 2009, 03:59:26 am »

*Phyress opens the door to her room at her parent’s house, steps into her rums and slams the door behind her. In her hands she holds a pair of new bracers and a smile is seen on her face, even though it seems like something is terribly bugging her. After she carefully puts them on her desk she takes off her formal dress and throws it on her bed. After she takes on some more casual clothes, she sits down cross-legged on her bed, right next to her dress, grabs the journal from under her bed and starts writing a new entry.*

-Mulnari, Seplar 23, 1455-

You don’t see me in a formal dress all too often, although there are occasions where I put such dresses on. Naturally I own several dresses and even more clothes or armor, but then for some things you rather look formal, like I did the other night and it was a very special occasion, at least to me, Richelle, Lywn and Tyrith. But well, before I write down how my night was I should start writing up the recent events from the beginning.

It has been quite some time since I saved Nel from Sashka’s forces, saved the kidnapped Jarred and saved Nel from Sashka again. Even though she seemed to be a tool back in time, controlled by one of the Ash’Khen, I stopped the second assault on Nel as well and also saved Richelle when Sashka was after the Heartstone which she hid in her old hideout where Richelle was doing some decorating. Oh and Ash’Khen? Basically Sashka was the tool of one as for some reason they were not able to enter Nel by themselves and therefore they recruited Sashka to do their work and find whatever they were after. Luckily I was able to stop Sashka back then. A few moments later a pit fiend showed up and took her dead body with it. While doing so the fiend left a scorch mark I did not took interest in at given time. To me it just seemed like the remains of a teleportation spell of some sorts so I did not really think about it, but things changed!

In the past few months rumors were spreading about pit fiends roaming these lands, mostly on Alindor and centered in the Sun Kingdom, especially around Lake Freis and Nel, but there were also sightings of them at the Dun Lake on Belinara, the spider cave close to Miritrix, and also the one or other place over on Dregar or Mistone. Also adventurers were saying that one fiend was seen on Molten Island. According to my sources, hence my sources were also attacked by them, they appeared all of a sudden in front of them, in a haze of fire and heat which was a result of the teleportation spell I guess, asked where they were and then attacked any people nearby, like Lance and Oma. I asked around for information regarding these sightings and soon found out that they looked like the one I and Caerwyn faced in Sashka’s old hideout. As there were only single fiends seen and never in a group I assumed that it was the very same I already knew. Well I don’t know it by name but you know because it did not invite me for tea, but you get the point. Due to the circumstances and them or it attacking innocent bystanders I posted several notes around Layonara, warning everyone about the recent attacks and to avoid these and naturally to report any sightings back to me. Argali helped me a lot in my investigations as several adventurers were telling her the rumors and she also had some ideas about it. For every scorch mark that was reported we pinned it on a map of Layonara. Basically most of them were around Nel, but we could not find any clear structure behind it. It probably had to do with the assault on Nel as one of these wanted to bring down Nel and get in possession of whatever it was after.

Caerwyn was also very helpful as we both heard about a scorch mark on the way from Mariner’s Hold to Fort Homestead. He investigated into this scorch mark and could not find anything about it until he examined it for the Al’Noth. Even though he has not the most knowledge about the Al’Noth he was able to feel the magic surrounding it, but he was not able to determine anything further. I sent a letter to Ell and asked her to do some research at Aragen’s Temple. Enclosed was a sketch of the pit dweller I saw back in the hideout. As the sightings were all over Layonara I called for a meeting of adventurers to discuss the sightings and maybe even find a clue. We knew almost nothing and probably the one knew more than the other regarding a specific sighting and whatsoever. Even before we held the meeting Trouble and I spotted another scorch mark in the spider cave. Trouble did not want to believe my story at first, but then he examined the mark for me once more. All of a sudden he backed off and told me he never wanted to get anywhere close to the mark again. I asked him what the matter was and he told me I was right about the mark. He could not tell me any specific about the mark, but he told me it was terribly out of place and should not belong to this plane. Well, so much for this. We now knew that it was something rather bad and pretty much out of place. And then it was time for the meeting.

We held the meeting in Mariner’s Hold and many adventurers showed up, and to my luck many known and loved faces, like Caerwyn, Fleur, Oma, Argali and even more. There are some people I trust more and some less. And these I can really trust without them blaming me for anything. Anyway, the meeting! We exchanged information regarding the sightings of the fiends and we got to know that they showed up all over Layonara, even though most were centered on Alindor. Well, no surprise if you ask me as I still thought it was only one pit dweller who still wanted to make it into Nel to get its fingers on whatever it was after. Unfortunately Ell did not find anything about the fiend at the library and my research did not go all too well, either. While I searched through the archives about anything that could be of interest for the pit dweller, I only found a note about an ancient project simply called “Project”. I made a copy of it nonetheless but I did not really think it of being valuable information. Anyway, while we were discussing about the nature of the fiends and their intentions and the question if it was just one or many, a guard of Nel approached our group and asked for one Miss Phyress Sylphide. Well, that’s me! He reported that there was a fresh scorch mark in the outskirts of Nel and that it was very fresh. Farmers who lived there reported the sighting to the council in Nel immediately and since I am in charge of the investigations in my home town a messenger was sent to me to inform me about the most recent sighting of a fiend around Nel. Together with those who were gathered he hurried over to said location with the messenger and spotted the scorch mark. While Oma and Fleur were examining the nature of the scorch mark together with other casters, we questioned the farmers who saw this strange occurrence of a fiend being summoned right in front on their land, scaring the hell out of them just with its presence, looking around, groaning and them disappearing again, leaving nothing but a scorch mark. They did not tell us anything new so I focused on those of us who are able to bend the Al’Noth to their will.

I don’t know what they did, but they did something very, very strange and from what I understood they wanted to reach the fiend through the mark and make it summon itself to the mark again. Don’t ask me, I have no idea about these things at all. Then without any warning something reached through the mark and showed up right in front of us. The arrogant little maiden Avariel. No, she isn’t really a maiden at all, not with her attitude, but then she was something like a holy warrior from another plane, like the fiends who showed up all over Layonara recently, seemingly to be in search for something. Well all I can say about her is that her name is Avariel and that she got wings and a fair skin. Besides that she is an arrogant little thing and does not think of us human all too highly. However, she showed up as we were screwing around with her marker. Apparently the scorch marks function as some kind of markers for them. The “maidens” and the pit dwellers are in some kind of war and the fiends fled from their home plane and made it up to our world. From Avariel we know that there are nine fiends in total. She almost wanted to vanish again as we did not have any valuable information for her, besides that she thought we were not worth wasting her time anyway. This changed when I told her I knew what at least one of them was after and gestured towards the direction of Nel which for some reason they cannot enter. Avariel told me there is some kind of barrier around it but she did not really seem to care about it. She did not seem to care about us or our world at all, but then she probably did not know adventurers like us before. It may be her battle and she was sent from her plane to ours to defeat these fiends, but then it is our world and at least I dislike if others take decisions for me which might also be world-altering. Before she finally vanished she performed some kind of ritual which made us her eyes. Yeah I know it is a rather creepy thought that she can see everything I see, even in very private and intimate moments. She told us she could only see through our eyes when one of the nine were around us, sense its presence and then hurry over to defeat it. Not that such a thing is really new to me as I am already the eyes of some cult, although only if I wear the ring one of the servants gave to me for recovering some crystal for his master back in Haven when I was still young and inexperienced. Oh well, looks like next I am going to be someone’s nose or mouth, or skin or whatever. Anyway, before Avariel faded away we told her that we would do our own investigations as this was our world after all. She simply shrugged at us as we were nothing more than pesky insects to her after all and wouldn’t be of any help to her, other than being her eyes and we were not allowed to mess around with her marks again.

Now knowing the name of my “enemy” I did some researched about them again, but neither I nor Ell were successful in our researches. It was like there was no knowledge accessible about the Ash’Khen at all. We did not know any of their weaknesses, the pit they came from, nor their conflict with the “maidens”. All I knew was that at least one of them wanted to take over Nel and search for whatever it was after. That could be a place, a weapon or a powerful artifact. I thought of the latter and I now knew for sure that there was something worth looking for in Nel and that this something is probably the key for an easy solution in this affair. Knowing Nel was still in danger I had to find a way to secure the city somehow. But how? The White Lily still consisted in its three members plus me and the guards were still weakened from the last attack and could probably not stand another assault on its own. I thought about it for days and then I got a brilliant idea! Why not fight them back with their own weapons? I knew there were at least three factories where they built all those powerful constructs and I still had the Heartstone I picked up from Sashka’s body before the fiend took her with it. There had to be a way to reprogram the still inactive constructs and let them defend Nel from any attackers. I did a little research and I thought it as best to contact the Goranites about it. If it is about technique and constructs they are your best bet. Therefore I sent a letter to the Windmill Academy which is located by the Rusty River here on Alindor. Ah well, here is the copy of the letter I sent, and their response:

Quote

Dear followers of the Father Invention,

Recently there have been some strange sightings around the city of Nel and the Lake Freis within the Sun Kingdom. Also there have been more Pit Dwellers reported on Belinara and I bet even on other continents as well. The Fiends are actually not the main reason I write this letter to you. You receive this letter as I need your wisdom and experience with some constructs

A few years ago Nel has been under assault of some bandits, as well as constructs who worked for one of the Pit Dwellers which now roam around in these lands. These constructs can, from what I know, be activated with a certain device, called the Heartstone, which is currently in my possession.

I fear Nel will be under attack shortly again as the Fiend was looking for something which is located somewhere within the city walls. Just no one knows what it really is. We only know it cannot get to it itself and therefore Nel was already attacked once. As the lines of the guards are still weakened and not strong enough to hold the city once more, I am asking you to examine one still intact, yet deactivated, construct. My plan is to make them guard the city, instead of attacking it and I need your help to "re-program" them.

I know you are blessed with the knowledge about constructs and golems and I would really appreciate if you could send one of your engineers to Nel. Also I could arrange an escort if you prefer. Naturally I would donate to your academy and pay for anything you need, given you answer my call and aid me in this matter. For your help I will also make sure you receive at least one still intact construct for your academy. I don't know if they are of good quality but I bet they are fine enough for engineering and studying.

I write you this letter on behalf of the council of Nel and the White Lily.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Phyress Sylphide

Quote

Dear Miss Phyress,

It is with some intrigue I reply to this. We did of course hear of the recent attack by said golems and constructs, and had intended on sending a representative to investigate, however word soon reached us the attack was over swiftly.

We will be sending one of our students to you, a Brimwattle Buller, to investigate.

He will advise once he reaches Nel, and if you could please give him access to said constructs, and if possible, any remains of those also destroyed for reverse-engineering purposes, and also any tools and equipment he may need.

Reprogramming is always a possibility, although it does depend on the form of programming used and how it was inserted.
Our representative will of course endeavor to make that a possibility.

For the sparkle of invention,

The Goranite Clergy.

You bet I was very happy to receive such a reply. I therefore contacted Jerred of the Purple Worm Trading Company as he still owes me the one or other favor for first securing the trading routes around Nel and secondly saving him from certain death when he was kidnapped to force the council of Nel to release Sashka in exchange for his life. So I moved with Jerred, Richelle, Tyrith, Lywn and some others to one of the factories and together we transported one still intact and two destroyed constructs to our hideout. It was the safest place available as the citizens are not all too keen on the constructs after the attack, yet. Also very few even knew about the hideout and then it was secured by Richelle, Lywn and Tyrith. Once we finished all the preparations I sent another letter to the Goranite Clergy, stating we had everything prepared and Mister Buller could come over to Nel for his researches. A few weeks later the cute little gnome arrived and we showed him the golems and he immediately started his research. We gave him everything he needed so he was able to make good progress with his examinations about the constructs and their activation by using the Heartstone.

It took him some time but eventually he sent a messenger to me while I was in Mariner’s Hold with Caerwyn, Argali and Fleur. We were currently discussing the scorch marks when the messenger interrupted and handed me a note from Brimwattle. It seemed like he made quite some progress and told me to move over to the hideout so he could show me his results. So together with Argali, Caerwyn and Fleur I hurried over to the hideout where the gnome was pacing around, waiting for us, all eager to let me know about his results. We followed him to the room where I once defeated Sashka in our duel and in front of us we saw a huge activated constructs, seemingly alive and we took a step back when we saw it. It was the very same golem we moved over here a few weeks ago, but now it came alive! Mister Buller told us not to worry as he managed to reprogram and to activate it. He also told me we no longer need the Heartstone to activate the constructs he modified. They would listen to whoever he programmed them for. The constructs looked lovely and this one was modified to obey to his commands. He showed us it worked properly before we started talking business. As part of our deal this construct was going to be property of the Windmill Academy, along with the remains of the destroyed constructs for further studies. So while we were still in the hideout, discussing even more technical details with Brimwattle, an exhausted messenger approached and gave me to know that he had urgent news from Richelle. She was on a scouting mission when she saw something that ought to need my fullest attention. I told the messenger to move it already and together with Argali, Caerwyn and Fleur I followed the man over to Richelle’s position. Even before we saw Richelle all of us could see that there was something terribly wrong around Nel. There was an unnatural darkness covering the back of a mountain close to Nel. Usually there is nothing important about this mountain, but now the backside was shrouded by a darkness that rendered everything pitch-black. Carefully we made our way over to Richelle’s position and she told me what was going on here.

Richelle was just patrolling with some guard outside of Nel when she saw that unnatural darkness and headed for it. She told us that she saw some movements into the mountain. Inside the mountain? Well as far as I knew there was no entrance I was aware of, but then I stood corrected by Richelle. The ones who made it inside used some Hulks and dug some sort of tunnel into the mountain. We did not know why they were doing it. We only knew that on the other side of the mountain was Nel and seeing the troops were armed we were not all too positive about their intentions. Some of them were undead, too! Richelle wanted to let me know before we started taking any actions. We agreed on attacking this threat. Richelle and the guards took the right flank, Argali, Fleur, Caerwyn and I took the left. We sneaked up upon them, using the shadows and got them by surprise. It was a clean and fast battle and most of them did not realize until it was over for them. Sadly a few of our guards died, too. Their deaths should not have happened but they will be honored for their deeds, because of what they died for, and trust me, their deaths probably saved a lot of other lives. Still it should not have happened. But then we had to fight off dwarves, some undead creatures, mercenaries and some constructs as well. I am glad we had Argali with us as she was able to stand the ground easily and made it possible for me to leap attacks into the constructs that were by far the biggest threat. Once the battle was over Richelle took care of the wounded and dead guards of Nel, while my team entered the tunnel the dug into the mountain. We headed down the tunnel for what seems like days and soon found ourselves in a rather large cave-system which was also guarded by constructs and other mercenaries. The mercenaries somehow looked like Sashka’s former allies, but then she was long dead already. I am just glad I had a trained group with me so we made it easily through all the guards and pressed on. On our way deeper into the mountain we found some dead guards and also some destroyed constructs. It seemed like they either did not have their Hulks under control, or they met some sort of resistance down here as well. Not that I really cared about their fate at all.

We made our way through the different caves and soon found us in front of another tunnel again which we naturally followed down. The deeper we moved in, the creepier and more unnatural it became. The solid rock turned soon into man-made walls. This one looked like an almost forgotten realm and was pretty much out of place if you ask me. The whole place had an eerie feeling about it and it looked ancient. Naturally to sum the eerie feeling up we had to put some undead creatures back to rest who were also roaming about. Among these creatures it was like a shadow was watching us and luring us farther in. When we passed the ruins of what was once a tower of some sorts, we found a closed door which was trapped. While Argali, Caerwyn and Fleur were securing me I picked the lock with some effort and opened the door. Just when I opened it the shadow showed itself in front of the ruins! It gestured me to fully open the door and to follow the hallway behind it. It really tried to lure me in, like it wanted us to move through that door, for whatever reason and purpose. But do I trust a shadow easily? I tried to talk to it, but it only replied “Come .... Seeeee” while it gestured towards the door. Fleur slowly approached me from behind and whispered into my ear that this is not a shadow, but someone else. I nodded to her and she backed up a little again. I tried to get to know more about the shadow but it was not very talkative at all. And then it showed itself. It either dropped its illusion or Fleur caused this by dispelling the illusion. But what I now saw made me gasp. Sashka! Someone must really hate me for having me to face her again! It was Sashka in flesh! Well, more or less as she did not look all too alive any longer. As I already said, after she died one of the Ash’Khen took her lifeless body with it to wherever they are hiding and it seems like they reanimated her, not resurrected her. She looked a bit different now, but she was still the same old, blaming me for what happened to her. It seems like the Ash’Khen only have power over the dead and not the living so they were only able to bring her back as an undead creature and not as a human being as she was before. But her attitude did not change at all. She was still working for those fiends and she apparently knew a lot more about this place than all of us four knew together. She thanked me for opening the one door as in her form she was not able to do it as it was warded against undead creatures or so and she needed me to open it for her. And now it was on her to lift the second ward. Second ward? Well we followed her to the second door through the hallway and stopped in front of it. She told us to open the door and so we did. I opened the door and peeked through the opening and got almost blinded by what I saw.

In front of me I saw a huge chamber with some sort of a magical ward, enclosing the center of it in a perfect circle. A platform with some sort of a teleport was located in the middle of the chamber. To my left there also was a rather large crystal located, also inside the protected circle. Sashka told us that no one alive is able to break the circle. Only undead creatures or constructs may be able to break it and she needed us to break the first one so she could break this. She told us that once she takes a step into it the protection will fall and the Ash’Khen will show up and step through the portal. The Ash’Khen built this chamber centuries ago as some sort of an escape route and therefore is a one-way-only portal. Once they all stepped through it they would close it from the other side which would result in the destruction of Nel. Swell. From what she told us I got to know that the citizens of Nel were not all too happy with a portal set up by fiends right under their beloved city. Therefore their most powerful spellcasters set up a protecting-circle that prevented them to enter it. The portal itself draws its power from the crystal which is also enclosed by the ward. So once Sashka lets the still remaining ward fall down hell will break loose and the Ash’Khen will destroy Nel by closing the portal behind them. Lovely. I think Sashka loves to torture others and see their helpless faces when she confronts them with such news. To tease us even more she gave us an hour to think of our next steps wisely before she would finally lift the last remaining spell.

Fleur and Caerwyn started studying the nature of the spell but they could not really find out anything about it that Sashka already told us. She also seemed way too sure about our failure and was only waiting for us to make a mistake which would be our certain death and would also mean the end of Nel and all its innocent citizens. But how to proceed from here? We thought about a way to disable the portal without bringing the protection against the Ash’Khen down. We thought about a precise placed arrow on the crystal but it was deemed to fail or bring down the barrier which was a big no-no. Also we thought about bringing it down for a few seconds so we could run to the crystal, destroy it and then activate the barrier again. She had a lot of ideas but they were connected with too many risk und simply not doable. Even if we did not do anything it would put Nel into great danger as she fiends want to use this portal direly as the maidens cut their way off to leave this plane on their own. I don’t know how they did it but the portal they set up centuries ago seemed to be their only way to safety again. We were still discussing when our time was over and we heard Sashka slowly making her way towards all, snickering the whole time. She asked me if we came up with a decision, knowing we did not have a clue about what do at all. She loved to see us this way and you bet she enjoyed it. It was like the sweet essence of life to her. She was the last one I wanted to ask for assistance to strike a deal with her masters by breaking the ward for her, letting them use the portal and to leave the closing of the portal to us, but she simply laughed at my proposal and reminded us about us being Avariel’s eyes. She also was kind enough to let us know that the Ash’Khen will soon find a way to get rid of her. Not that I really like Avariel, but being her eyes rendered us more or less safe of them. They were not all too keen on facing Avariel just yet. And she also was kind enough to remind me about me being responsible for her death so she would not help me saving Nel at all. She just wanted to see me desperate, trying to find a way out.

She made some gestures and all of a sudden we were surrounded by several of her undead minions which attacked us immediately, while she slowly walked toward the barrier. I saw her grinning at me while she passed me slowly, fully aware I was busy staying alive and fighting off her minion. Luckily Argali stepped up and focused on my opponent, too, so I leaped an attack into Sashka. It was a powerful attack, but Sashka did not seem to be bothered at all and simply arched a brow at me with a mischievous grin on her lips. She still stood there, likely unharmed and not even knocked down to her behind! I knock Primals down with such an attack! But what does she do? She just kept in grinning at me, like I was no threat to her at all. And then she engaged. I fought her before, but it was nothing compared to our previous fight before! She was darn strong and I had problems to block her attacks, not to mention being able to find a weak spot in her defense and take advantage of it. I know I am not bad with my rapier, but the elegance which what she wanted to end my life, making it slow and painful though, was impressive and shocking at the same time. She gave me a hard time and slowly she wounded me more and more. When I was already bleeding heavily she just stood in front of me, grinning while I fought for my very life. No, I could not die! Not in this moment and never to her! I was her successor in the past and I would not allow her to kill me! Not now! Not her! I felt weak due to my lack of blood and with every heartbeat more of it was pouring out of my veins. There I was, kneeling in front of her more dead than alive and her over me, hardly even scratched. I was no match to her, not alone. All of a sudden I felt power surge through me, renewing my whole body and I leaped another attack into her. This time I got her by surprise and almost managed to knock her down. Caerwyn threw a potion at me and saved my life, while Fleur and Argali fought off her remaining servants and now they were focusing Sashka as well. Even with combined forces she gave us a very hard time and I did not bleed that much for a good time and to be honest, it is nothing I’d wish my worst enemies and that should mean a lot! We fought her off for what seemed like ages until we finally pierced through her. With a look of surprise and something that almost looked like peace she ended up on my blade before she turned to dust and fell to ground. I picked up some of the dust before the wind blew it away and it was creepy when her remains seemed to linger around me for a short moment before it finally got carried away. She was gone forever now.

Sashka. I will never forget her. As much as I hated her, I respected her. I know some would frown up upon this, seeing all the trouble she caused in her life, especially around Nel with her attacks on caravans, the kidnapping of Jerred, the assault on Nel and probably some more unknown deeds I don’t even want to think about. I think I don’t have to explain how much I hated her for what she did. But why do I respect her? Well I mainly respect her for who she was if you don’t look on all the crimes she did in her whole life. She was skilled with the rapier like I am and always had a set goal in mind. Unfortunately it differed from my goals so we did not go along all too well. She knew what she wanted and took every necessary step to reach it. She was ambitious like I am. She once told me we were like sisters and not all too different. Both of us know what we want and if we really want something bad, we try everything to reach it. We were much alike. Our only big difference was that she was on the one side of the blade, I am on the other. If things were different it might have ended up the other way. I wish ending her life was a pleasure for me, but in fact it was not. I felt pity for her. Being an undead creature is nothing you really want, unless you are a crazy mage and want to enter lich-hood. I am not all too certain she wished to live the life the Ash’Khen chose for her. By killing her I released her and I think she did not mind. We are much alike and I am rather dead than being a living dead. It is a horrible thought. Rest in peace, Sashka. I respected you and will never forget what trouble you caused.

Once Sashka was dead we decided on leaving this place for now. We still had no idea what to do next as without Sashka we had no connection to the Ash’Khen and at some point they would simply try to burn down Nel or send some stupid lackey to break the barrier for them. Well that unlucky person won’t survive it and the ward will rip said person apart, but it will also disable the barrier which means the Ash’Khen will set up a nice firework all over Nel. Alright, we now had some answers, but even more unanswered questions now. Oh joy. Before we departed we agreed on meeting again soon enough to discuss about how to proceed in this matter later on.

We agreed on meeting again in a week. That gave me enough time to hurry over to Nel and settle some things, as well as to sleep about some. I really had no clue about how to proceed from here. Every solution seemed to be a dead end and like all of our ideas ended up in a worst-case-scenario which means the destruction of Nel and I wanted to prevent that at any cost. One thing I took care of once I was back in Nel. As the entrance to the ancient chamber was now left without any protections it would be an easy thing for the Ash’Khen to send in a poor soul to bring down the last remaining protection that prevents the fiends to bring death over all Nel by stepping through the portal. I am glad Brimwattle managed to reprogram one of the constructs and he told me he could easily fix more for me, given the payment was alright. Furthermore it should not take him as long as last time as he now knew exactly how to proceed in reprogramming the constructs. This being said I asked Jerred for his help with the transport of two more constructs and he agreed on it. So together with the Purple Wyrm we transported two more constructs to our hideout where Brimwattle was already awaiting us with a gleam in his eyes. He probably is a devoted follower of Goran and loves to fix things for his life. I told him the constructs should only obey to Richelle, Lywn, Tyrith and me. Well naturally they should listen to him for the time being as well as I needed him to transport them over to the chamber after all. I instructed him to place one guardian at the first door and the second construct at the second door. They were also instructed to let no one dead or alive or undead for that matter walk past them and secure the place at any cost. Only members of the White Lily were allowed to pass. With these instructions I was able to sleep more easily at nights as the place was well guarded again and only a fool would try to sneak past them.

Other news about Connor also reached my ears. Rumors were going around that he was investigating in this matter as well. From what I heard he is an expert about portals and teleportation so he was a safe bet on the scorch marks. It did not take long and I received a letter from Connor to meet and exchange information about what was going on. He had some valuable information and so did I. Try to settle for a date with him though! Both of us are usually very busy so we did not find a suitable time just yet. Well fine with me as it gave me more time for further investigations and the meeting with Caerwyn, Fleur and Argali came up in a few days anyway. We send out word that we needed any help on a specific matter. We did not spread word about what we found as I did not want to have fools heading into the chamber and exploring it on their own. Well also I set up two guards of Nel in front of the entrance into the mountain. I had to prevent anyone from intruding and screwing things up big time. And then it was time for the second meeting.

Almost the same people showed up as last time and offered their help to investigate into this matter. There were a lot of questions and most of them I could answer easily about the maiden, the Ash’Khen and the portal. I also got to know that a group around Fleur managed to kill one of them so that left us with only eight Ash’Khen. From what I heard the fight was pretty touch and they only managed to defeat one single Ash’Khen with Avariel’s help. I don’t want to imagine how this group would stand against the unleashed force of eight Ash’Khen right in front of their goal, the ancient chamber. I somehow doubt Avariel would make the difference in such a battle. They would simply kill us all, reanimate one of us again, lead that someone through the barrier which causes it to fall and clear the path for the pit dwellers to use their portal to safety while hell breaks loose over Nel. A lovely thought, really. I told them they could best see it for themselves and together we made our way to the outskirts of Nel where we were stopped by two guards who were more or less paying attention and looked rather bored. Bet you behaved when I was threatening them with some combat training with Tyrith. You can say about Tyrith what you want, but you don’t want to face her in combat with her greatsword, like with Arngrim. The two would have made a cute couple and sometimes I think they are related in some kind of way. I never asked Arngrim about if he had any family or a daughter for that matter. However, they reported that Richelle came by earlier in company of a little fellow as well as two golems. According to the guards the little fellow was sitting on top of one golem and it pretty much suited Brimwattle. Lovely, so Richelle and Brimwattle fixed two golems in time and managed to position them down in the ancient halls. After Oma finished teasing the guards I eventually managed to lead the lot of us down into the caves.

I was rather glad when I saw the caves were populated by those Hulks again. It just made things harder for anyone trying to get to the ancient halls. Well alright we had to defeat them in order to descend further down but it was still good to have them secure the place, even if they were not aware of it.

Once down we saw something lurking in front of the first door with glowing eyes which pierced right through the eerie darkness surrounding this place. As we carefully moved closer to the thing I saw the outline of a huge construct. Lovely! It looked threatening and detected our presence like a hundred meter ahead of it. I told them to hold it for a moment and moved right under the massive construct. I knew it was one of our golems else I would not have moved that close to it, knowing it could tear me apart without any struggle. I ordered the construct to let only those currently present with me pass. It opened the door for us and I gestured everything to get through the door. Once they were on the other side I followed them and the construct closed the door behind us again. Bet you at least half of them were impressed by the construct and I was proud about what I reached so far. Sashka and I differ on that matter though. While she used the constructs to try to take over Nel, I use them to secure Nel. I know the guards at the entrance were not all too keen on them and after what happened a few years ago it really is understandable. However, we moved over to the second construct and I told it not to attack us and to protect the first door from the other side, so no one was able to leave or enter this hallway. This way we were able to do all the necessary researches without being be disturbed or interrupted by treasure hunters who made it past the probably sleeping guards at the entrance to the tunnel.

Once we were at the second door I told everyone not to make it past the doorwell. I did not want to risk anyone accidentally bringing down the barrier and death upon us. Well the one who brings it down won’t have to worry about it as the massive energy in the ward will rip him or her apart before he realizes what happens to him. And so the spellcasters started examining the ward and the portal itself. Long story short, we were unsuccessful and they came up with the same ideas as we had and did not find out all too many about the nature of the ward or portal either. The circle was probably set up by several mages and it was not easy to bring it down, yet doable. The trick was to bring it down long enough to destroy the portal and make it out alive. And if the Ash’Khen are aware of the destruction of the portal then death will reign over Nel anyway as they have nothing to lose and will use this plane as their fortress. What we did not notice last time though was a paining that shows the Ash’Khen forcing humans to build up the chamber for them. They have been on this plane centuries ago, but why? Did they expect the war with the maidens or have they been in conflict with them for centuries now? I honestly don’t know and I doubt Avariel will give me any hints. Besides, can she be trusted either? It seems like she is not telling the whole truth at all. There are too many things she knows and is not willing to share.

However, a few days later I was just in Nel at the Purple Wyrm Trading Company discussing the recent happenings with the fiends around Nel when the door to our room opened and a man entered who introduced himself as Connor. I think I saw him on the one or other occasion, like when Plenarius gathered those around him to the small pond above Haven to talk about the upcoming war and our preparations. Well I told him everything I found out in the past few weeks. I told him about our encounter with Avariel, but more important the hall which held the portal. Connor asked me if it was a room with four pillars, some steps to a podium and a portal on top of it. I was surprised he already knew about how the room looked like and I asked him whether he has been there or not. He told me he was, but was not at the same time. Someone try to understand mages, really. It actually made sense when he got into more details about it. Connor is an expert if it comes to portals and spells related to it and is probably the one with most knowledge about them. He told me that he was examining all those scorch marks on Layonara and that he was able to look through them. When he did so he always saw a glimpse of the room, before he was redirected elsewhere. All pointed to this one chamber and he thinks the ward I mentioned is the cause of their problems. It looks like the Ash’Khen tried to portal right into this ancient hall, but did not manage to get through the barrier that prevents them from entering it. This also explains why they always seemed lost when they showed up somewhere else on Layonara and asked where it was. It all makes sense now. They tried to make their way into the chamber by a teleportation spell, but it reflected and ended up somewhere else. Connor also asked me about my relation to Avariel and I told him I don’t really like her with her she is so almighty and us mortals being just lesser forms of life in this world. I am glad Connor thinks about her the same way as I do. He also told me she seemed to be frustrated she could not locate the place and Connor got the impression that she wanted to direly find that place. This also leads to another question. Does Avariel wish the place for themselves? Right now it seems like both sides wish the portal for themselves, just Avariel does not know about its location yet which I am glad for and the Ash’Khen already seem to know about its location, but did not find a way to get past the barrier, but keep on trying. Anyway, Connor and I agreed on doing a little more research before we head down to the chamber so he can get a full look on it and study the nature of the portal and the ward. Connor wanted to contact a few of his old friends and the Reaching. I wanted to search in the archives again for more valuable information, other than plans for working shifts and the like. Well I already did my research and I did not find anything more about its history, unfortunately. It is like no one besides the Ash’Khen know about this place. No name on the documents rang a bell either and as the project took place centuries ago I somehow doubt one of them is still alive. So all my hopes are one Connor for now. Maybe I should contact him again and ask if he found out anything about the place at all. And then we still have to settle for a date to descend into the heart of Nel and find out as much as we can about the portal. I am positive Connor is able to find out some more than the mages did last time. But alas, only time will tell.

Bet you, there is even something that happened worth being mentioned that is not related to Nel and the Ash’Khen at all! You know I love good duels and I usually have a hard time finding someone who either has time or is not afraid of me. I don’t know but some adventurers think I am like a madman, well madwoman in my case with my blade and they could not defeat me so they rather avoid being in a duel with me. So I thought it was nice to have a recurring event, like every two years or so, to meet with those interested at the arena in Fort Vehl to fight various duels. I therefore invented the Night of Duels, an event where those skilled with a blade fight duels to find out who is the best among us and announce him or her as our champion. It was rather tricky to come up with a ruleset as I know some people try to find a way to bypass these rules. Most of the rules were about forbidding any use of magic and bet you, next time I stuff everyone in a copper plate or simple clothing, hand them their favorite weapon made out of copper and then let them fight their duels and make sure they hand me all their equipment for the time being. Well I asked a little around and someone was kind enough to set up some strange device that absorbs any spells being cast so it prevents casters to cast their spells. I think some did not like the rules and therefore did not show up but hey, I don’t force people to come, I just give them a in my opinion good opportunity to test their skill with the blade. It was not a duel among mages who throw spells at each other or archers who shoot little holes in their opponent, but about bladework. To round the event up I asked Steel of the Leringard Arms & Inn for their services in catering and he agreed on supplying the Night of Duels with food and drinks. It really was a lovely event and in the end G’ork won and was announced as our champion for this Night of Duels. G’ork was without any doubt the best of those who showed up. I came right behind him and only lost my duel against G’ork. It was nice to see how different fighters use different tactics to win a duel. Duchess was always running around, trying to get her opponent on the wrong feet and take an advantage of the resulting attacks of opportunity. She pretty much kicked Tyra around in the arena who used a more defensive stance and therefore gave her a lot of opportunities to hit her as she was not mobile enough to dodge under Duchess’ blades. A few duels later Duchess was my opponent and it should be an interesting battle. Between us were like 20 meter and once the referee opened the duel she raced towards me, trying to get my back. She was probably not aware of my keen senses in a fight and I wouldn’t give her a chance to catch me flatfooted or give her any opportunity to attack me while racing past me. She quickly came closer and tightened the grip on my blade and got ready to strike her back. Just when she was about to pass me I engaged and she ran into my blade. Continuing with her run and hit tactic she ran away from me, but I cut in her way and attacked her while running. We both were quick on our feet and she dodged a lot of my attacks, but I think she was surprised that I mastered her technique and therefore made the hunter the hunted. Already wounded she ran towards the one of the pillars and hid behind it. I backed away to the wall so she could not attack me from behind. She was hiding out there somewhere and I was not able to spot her. It was just a matter of time till she attacked and I had to pay attention to any noise. The first strike was deemed to be hers, but I know I can rely on my reflexes. And then it happened. As she attacked me she lost her cover and it seemed like we were doing things simultaneously. She leaped into me while I aimed my blade at her and tried to get out of the way of her blade. Neither one of us managed to dodge the other’s attack, but I also got her by surprise and ended the duel. It was a lovely duel and we both can learn from each other. If the practices her skill with the weapon even more it will be an awesome duel! I should rather continue my training, but figuring out the techniques I am after is rather though in this moment. Anyway, it was a lovely night and all who participated are looking forward to being around for the next Night of Duels.

I think there is one more thing worth being mentioned and this one thing is related to my formal dress and me coming home late. I was just sitting around in Port Hempstead and was talking to Fleur about various things as a guard of Nel approached us and asked for my attention as he had an important message for me. I first thought the Ash’Khen tried to take over Nel again or simply destroyed it or whatever, but judging his expression it was neither of the above. He seemed to be quite cheery and in a good mood. So together with Fleur we sailed over to Alindor and escorted us to the Council Hall in Nel. There we had to wait a little longer before we were greeted by another guard who told us to follow the hallway and enter the large hall. Having no idea why I was summoned here I carefully peeked through the door and saw several citizens of Nel standing around in their lovely suits and dresses, chatting to each other while they were obviously waiting for something to happen, or for someone. I entered the room in my dress and everyone fell silent and gazed towards me. In this moment I felt so small and vulnerable. Flushing by all the attention I carefully moved on and saw Richelle, Tyrith and Lywn standing in front of the mayor and some members of the council I hardly know and gestured me over. I asked Tyrith what was going on here but she simply shrugged at me. Obviously she had no idea either. She was pouting anyway as I was the last one of them who showed up and those usually get the most attention and Tyrith wanted to be the one who was late. The mayor asked for everyone’s attention and everyone fell silent again. I could hear myself swallow. The mayor and the council thanked the White Lily for all their help over all these years, beginning with securing the trade routes around Nel again, to the recent dealings with the fiends. His speech was lovely and I found myself blushing the one or other time. To show us the gratitude of the town we all were announced as Shields of Nel. Shield of Nel is a title they don’t give to just anyone and they did not name anyone a Shield of Nel for quite some time now. Furthermore they declared this day as the White Lily day, a day which now functions as a holiday in and around Nel. Once she cheering stopped a woman of the council stepped up and removed all our bracers, before she went on to replace them with new ones. The bracers are lovely and of good quality. They are like my old bracers that improved my agility. These also make me a little smarter and strengthen my will to easier overcome my fears. And this was not everything! While the lady donned my new bracers the mayor also announced me as Advisor to the War and Defense Council of Nel. It does not happen very often you see me speechless, but this was definitely one of these rate moments! I did not know what to say at all and Richelle, Tyrith and Lywn were also stunned. We made it! We all put so many efforts into establishing Richelle’s band of merchants here in Nel and we finally made a name within the Sun Kingdom and especially Nel. After the ceremony we partied all night with the crowd and the whole night was breathtaking. It is just sad Caerwyn was not able to make it. I would have loved to dance with him in this night.

It is not over yet, though. Nel might be safe for now, but the Ash’Khen are still roaming around freely while Avariel tries to hunt them down and then there is still the portal right in the heart of Nel. Just like no one in Nel knows about it and I am glad for it. If someone spreads word about the portal and the real nature of the attacks on Nel chaos will break out which neither the guards, nor the White Lily is able to manage. Even if we enjoy a good reputation these days we don’t have numbers to be a big help to Nel or the Sun Kingdom in general. I should discuss this matter with Richelle though, as it is her band of mercenaries and she is their leader after all. But the bigger the band becomes, the more effective they will become. Right now there are three members and two constructs. It should be more. But as I already said, it is Richelle’s decision. I am just a friend who helped her out establishing the White Lily in Nel as I owed her for the time I travelled around with them and also for her showing me various techniques with my blade. If Richelle needs my help regarding the Lily, may it be about expanding it or just helping them out, well then she can count on me. My work is not quite done here after all, yet.

But well, we’ll see what happens next... [/i]

*Phyress just manages to close her journal before she curls up on her bed and falls into a deep slumber.*

General Discussion / Re: Thank You

« on: October 25, 2009, 09:38:44 am »

It was a lovely event from what I saw, even though I was only able to stay at the event for like 2 hrs.

Keep up the great work everyone!

General Discussion / Re: Happy Birthday Orth!

« on: October 25, 2009, 09:35:23 am »

Happy Birthday!

Ask A Gamemaster / Re: editing times

« on: October 23, 2009, 04:14:56 am »

Hey there,

here a small instruction on how to create an event.

1. Go to the Player Calendar
2. Choose under "Add new event" whatever you want. For a single event you best choose a single all day event, or a ranged event.
3. Choose a title, fill in the information and set the date
4. Submit

In a range event you can enter the starting and the ending time, although I'd probably also provide a fixed time here. Sometimes forum times are messing up. You won't be able to enter a time in a single, all day event. You will have to stick with a ranged event.

The Fixed Time World Clock – setup

Here you can set a time and date and you can share the link on your event, so everyone knows exactly when it will start in every timezone

NWN Ideas, Suggestions, Requests / Re: Deities and Classes Suggestion

« on: October 22, 2009, 09:38:01 am »

So just like with paladins? LORE: Paladin

Quote

Not every deity sponsors an order of paladins, only Aeridin, Lucinda, Rofirein Toran, and Vorax require holy warriors beyond their normal clergy. All Paladin characters must follow one of these deities.

General Discussion / Re: Happy 17th Wedding Anniversary!

« on: October 20, 2009, 12:40:59 pm »

Happy Anniversary!

General Discussion / Re: Baby girl

« on: October 19, 2009, 02:45:48 am »

Congratulations!

Ask A Gamemaster / Re: update question

« on: October 04, 2009, 10:21:15 am »

May I ask what servers you try to connect to? Are you using an IP to access them or simply xora.layonara.com as for west server?

Does it work when you i.e. try to direct connect to xora.layonara.com?
Or xora.layonara.com:5122 for the central server?

General Discussion / Re: Well.. welll.. wellll....

« on: October 02, 2009, 02:55:05 pm »

Happy Birthday!

General Discussion / Re: Hi Ho Silver!

« on: October 01, 2009, 12:47:11 pm »

Happy Birthday!

General Discussion / Re: Happy Birthday Thunder Pants!

« on: September 27, 2009, 08:42:22 am »

Happy Birthday!

Leringard Arms Inn and Tavern / Re: The White Lily proudly presents: Night of Duels

« on: September 24, 2009, 06:11:34 pm »

*a new note is posted*

It was a very lovely evening, even though only nine combatants including me showed up for a Night of Duels. It was very interesting to see many new faces and different fighting styles.

I thank everyone who participated and I am already looking forward to seeing you at the next Night of Duels which will certainly take place soon again.

Everyone fought well and I think everyone learned a bit from this event.

But now for the announcement. The current champion is: G'ork!

Thank you all again who showed up, it was a blast!

*Signed*
Phyress Sylphide

100

General Discussion / Re: gasps

« on: September 24, 2009, 05:31:56 pm »

Happy Birthday!

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