We are Shipwrecked!!!

 

The sea became more and more torrential until our ship was run aground.  I’m no sailor Gerard, but I’m sure if you had been here, you would agree with me that the storm (or whatever it was) that our ship encountered was not natural.  Fortunately, we have reached the Western Continent and have taken refuge in a small quarry town right on the coast.

 

The first thing we noticed as we entered the town was that no one seems to have any inhibitions; practicing various forms of lewd acts right out in the streets.  According to the mayor, that’s not the only problem his town faces at the moment.  All sorts of monstrous beings are roaming the outskirts of the city.  We ran into some of these creatures on our way into the town.  The mayor thinks the source of the infestation is the quarry itself.

 

I am writing you this from a local inn and the bard who is playing on stage is absolutely marvelous.  I feel compelled to join in with him.

 

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I cannot tell you how exhilarating that was!  I finally had to stop, but the bard just continues to play; nothing distracts him.

 

Perhaps I should backtrack and tell something of the people who signed on with me.

 

Besides Arty there’s Valla, who is a monk but has a rogue’s soul.  We also have Tomas, another monk who belongs to the Monastery of the Morrow, located at the top of the highest mountain on the Western Continent.  And then there is the Lady Kahalla, a sorceress and I believe apprentice to the Lady Serina of your Mage Isle.  She gives the impression of someone used to the finer things in life. Her demeanor takes a little getting used to, but she seems more than proficient with her magical skills.  She has a little dragonlike familiar named Frosty

 

Speaking of Lady Kahalla, she is very suspicious of this bard, who has continued to play even as I have been writing this.  She thinks he has the crowd under some kind of spell (it’s hard to tell; the entire town seems to be under some kind of spell).  She and Valla are approaching the stage and I believe I heard them say Valla is going to try to break one of the bard’s lute strings to stop him from playing…….Well, she’s fallen on top him.  That stopped him from playing, but now the crowd is becoming awfully surly.  Valla has gotten to her feet and it looks as if she and Kahalla are headed for their chambers.  That sounds like a very good idea.  I think I shall retire for the evening myself.

 

Well what do you know; the bard has started playing again.

 

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When we woke up this morning, Tomas was gone.

 

Kahalla didn’t trust him from the start even going so far as to suggest he was Redsith himself.  She asked me back on the ship if I had a detect evil spell but I only have detect magic.

 

We found out from people in the bar that he (Tomas) came down early had breakfast and then left for the quarry (the bard was still playing. There’s no question now, he himself is under a spell).

 

At the quarry we encountered more of the monsters that have plagued the town.  We fought them off and went inside where we found a crystal temple behind a secret door (while opening the secret door Valla triggered a spelltrap that temporarily turned her into a boy.).

 

Inside the temple we were faced with even more vile creatures.  Finally we came to a room and inside we found Tomas standing in a bowl that was filled with some kind of liquid. He had a knife to his throat.

 

Before any of us could do anything, Tomas mumbled something about bringing the peace back and then he slit his throat.  He fell back into the bowl and his body started to writhe.  A strange radiance fell over the room.  The walls and floor were glowing blue.

 

And then we realized that something was happening to Tomas.

 

He transformed into yet another monster and that monster summoned two minions to do his bidding.  Using team work (especially from Kahalla, who was able to slow the movements of one of the minions), we defeated all three.

 

After much inspection of the bowl we concluded that there was nothing we could do so we returned to town.

 

Outside the quarry we realized that the blue glow was everywhere and this was also true of the town.  People had stopped cavorting in the streets.  In fact no one was doing much of anything but eating and working.  As we passed the inn I noticed that the bard had finally stopped playing.

 

The only person in town who seemed the least bit happy was the Mayor.  He was thrilled that we had brought the peace back to his town, but that didn’t stop him from trying to haggle down the price we had agreed he would pay us. He went to the window and peered out.  Turning back to us he said he might have more work for us after all.  The caravan was back in town and its next stop would be East Port.  He wondered if we might help guard it for him.

 

 

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I’ve just returned to Kahalla’s magical tent from an embarrassing encounter with Arty. We have been traveling with the caravan for about two days. Apparently I had been sleepwalking and he woke me up.  This stems from an event that occurred to me in childhood. I don’t feel like relating anything more but it does connect to that repressed memory I spoke of earlier.

 

Arty was speaking with one of the caravan workers named Reginald and he was telling Arty that there are quite a few other bowls of the type we found in the quarry.  The largest of which is kept by the monks of the Monastery of the Morrow.  I’m sure he had told Arty much more about them before I showed up.

 

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One of the caravan workers (Billy) was killed last night and Kahalla and Valla seem to think Arty had something to do with it. They have asked him to tie himself down for the night from now on. Strangely none of the other caravan workers appear to suspect him.  I don’t know what to think.

 

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A band of marauders tried to attack the caravan.  We killed most of them and the others fled.

 

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Just outside the city limits of East port, we fought a purple worm.  Arty Valla and Frosty were swallowed by it then somehow the worm died and spat our friends out.  Arty was barely hurt but Valla was near death until I healed her but Frosty perished.  Kahalla is hoping to find someone in East Port that can resurrect him.