We all survived!!! …Well almost…But I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

 

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I’m going to try to make this short, for this will probably be my last correspondence with you for quite sometime.

 

 

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At the end of my last letter I told you we had decided to visit Reginald, the Caravan Master before we set off for the Monastery of the Morrow.  That turned out to be a big mistake. 

 

At first I thought that Reginald was driven to action because Arty was goading him with the Medusa head; holding it up in his face.  But now I realize that we walked into a trap the moment we entered Reginald’s agency.  Reginald reached into his desk and we were all knocked unconscious (All except Kahalla, but the last thing I remember before blacking out was three goons rushing into the room and beating the sorceress to the ground).

 

We woke up sometime later chained to the walls (Frosty was in some kind of magical cage) of a room that felt as if it was moving.  Valla immediately tried to get Arty to help her get to her lock picking tools, but it quickly became clear that he was in an almost catatonic state.

 

Kahalla ignored all of this and cast a spell that freed us all (Frosty too).  I went over and put my ear to the door.  I could hear two people in what sounded like an argument on the other side.  I made out the word ‘dagger’ and then my eyes widened as I recognized one of the voices.

 

It was Reginald!

 

But he had dropped the country gentry affectation he had been putting on for us. When I told the others, we came to the conclusion that Reginald was Redsith.  Kahalla also told us that she had learned from Frosty that we were aboard an airship.

 

The door was flung open a man dressed in a captain’s uniform was roughly deposited on the floor.  The door slammed shut just as quickly.

 

Valla was able to pick the lock on the door and was almost trampled by Arty, the second she got it open.  He rushed through the door and disappeared down the hallway.

 

We soon learned that the captain’s name was LeRoy.  A man who carried himself as a country gentleman had rented LeRoy’s airship for the day, but then he had had three thugs escort him off his own ship while the man loaded some mysterious cargo (which was probably us) on board.  LeRoy was able to pilot the ship without any interference until they got close to mountain.  One of the thugs then took over the controls and LeRoy was brought down here to visit us.

 

Kahalla was happy that at least we had finally found the Monastery of the Morrow.  It didn’t take much convincing for LeRoy to join us in our fight against Redsith.

 

Out on deck we caught a glimpse of Arty as he jumped from the ship right onto the side of the mountain he climbed down the face and disappeared into a cave.

 

It appeared that Redsith and his thugs had abandoned the airship to drift as it pleased.  LeRoy was able to pilot the ship to the side of the cave, moor it tightly with some ropes and then extend the gangplank to the cavemouth.

 

In the first chamber of the cave we came upon a friendly ghost named Curly.  He told us the story of Theodore, the original Abbot of the Morrow.  He had wanted to bring peace to the land by sacrificing himself in huge Morrow bowl at the center of the mountain.  Peace of a sort had come to the land but in the form of the blue glow and Theodore’s soul had been trapped here along with the souls of every other monk who was residing in the mountain at the time.

 

For years the monks of the Morrow had sought a way to free Theodore and the other’s and bring true peace to the land.  In the last few months a rumor had circulated that a child had been born whose sacrifice would bring this to pass.

 

It didn’t take long (with Curly’s help) for us to figure out that that child was Arty.

 

Over the next few hours we fought a multitude of beasts that populated the cave and corresponded to a series of force fields that held the dagger that must be used to sacrifice Arty.

 

Once the force fields were down, we went back to the chamber where we had seen the dagger and found that it had already been taken.  We stood on the platform where the dagger had been and were raised into the Morrow Bowl Chamber.

 

Arty stood in center of the bowl (that took up the entire chamber) pressing the dagger to his throat.  We all stood transfixed for a few seconds and then an arrow seemed to come out of nowhere and pierce Arty’s heart.  Arty’s body disintergrated and we saw his soul floating in the air until it was drawn into the body of the man who had shot the arrow:  Redsith!

 

Redsith told us that we would now help him complete his rise to greatness by sacrificing our loved ones.

 

That’s when we saw them.

 

Behind where Arty had stood lay three figures.  Somehow I knew without being told that the young woman was Miriam, my sister (the others were a man named Salty, Valla’s mentor and the Lady Serina).

 

Kahalla told me the best tact I could take was to keep singing my special empowerment song while the others fought Redsith.  That was fine by me; the only thing I cared about at the moment was my sister.  I edged closer and closer to her as the battle raged on.  It seemed the more they fought the bigger and more powerful Redsith became.  I reached Miriam and tried to shake her awake hoping she knew some secret we could use to defeat Redsith.  But it was to no avail and I was losing hope.

 

Kahalla’s cold power seemed to be turning the tide; it was the only thing that was doing much real damage to the now giant creature.  Redsith reared back and cut the sorceress down.  Her body disintegrated just as Arty’s had done and her soul was drawn into the creature.  I looked up and saw that her essence was still intact and she was still fighting against the creature.  That was all I needed to rekindle my hope.  I bounded across the bowl and sank my sword deep into Redsith’s foot.  At the same time, LeRoy’s blade had found the creatures neck and loped the head off.  Redsith’s lifeless body collapsed into the bowl and it cracked in two.

 

Somehow we all got our loved ones out before the whole mountain came down around our heads (Kahalla’s body had been regenerated and I quickly offered her my cloak to cover herself).

 

So I have learned from Miriam the full story of our mother, which I have attached in a separate document for you to peruse.

 

Miriam also told us that her daughter had been kidnapped as a ruse to get her to come to the mountain.  As soon as Serina heard this she insisted that Kahalla assist Miriam and me in finding the girl…my niece! Valla is taking Salty home while Serina will return to Rocky Harbor to join you on your journey.

 

As I said, I have no idea when I shall be able to write you again but I wish you all the luck on your journey

 

Yours Gurmadden Stonesinger