Journal of Artyom's Expedition - Day 6, Addendum

Well. Today certainly has been eventful. I am deeply disturbed by what has transpired, in many ways, and I am not certain where to begin.
 
I suppose I should simply follow the timeline of events. After the rest at which I wrote my last entry, we continued on into the dungeon complex. We got through all of one room before Moshe rushed into what I believe was a kitchen and got ambushed by some sort of... cavern squid? He and Eloria took care of it with little effort, but we were approached immediately after by two more undead, and another group from the direction we had come from, simultaneously. One group was two more of the wights, who were unusually coherent for undead though no less hostile than the previous groups (and, fortuitously, Sadon and I can likely salvage their plate armor). We dispatched them.
 
The second group was... complicated. One among them was that Path of Blood pistolier bounty hunter again, who immediately went after Eloria rather than me, interestingly enough. Moshe made short work of him. The other was not an enemy at all, though he had apparently been duped by the bounty hunter to lead him to us; his name is Karthurnax, and he says he is a dragonborn. He certainly looks like one of the dragons the human storytellers are so fond of, as does his (quite pleasant) steed, so I am inclined to believe him. Regardless, I am happy to have another soldier at our side, and he seems refreshingly sensible by our party's standards.
 
During all this, Silvertongue wandered off to check the room across from the kitchen, and encountered some remarkably amiable undead, though they had gone somewhat mad and senile from the length of time they had been trapped down here. They requested our help breaking the curse that bound them to this place so they could move on along the Astral Path, and we complied. The process of allowing them to pass on was successful, but this is where things began to come undone. Silvertongue and Moshe apparently decided to wander off yet again while we were tending to the needs of these trapped souls, down the staircase deeper into the dungeon.
 
By the time the rest of us realized they were gone, it must have been several minutes, and in our haste to pursue them we must have somehow triggered a trap system on the stairs that collapsed them into a slick ramp. Karthurnax's quick reflexes allowed us to make it over the spike pit at the foot of the stairway without incident, fortunately, but by the time we had made it to the chamber of the base, we were separated from Silvertongue and Moshe by some sort of magical barrier, who had engaged some sort of undead warrior intent on killing them. A lot of things happened in quick succession. Eloria broke down the barrier. Moshe seemed to willingly let Hexus do as he wished. Hexus successfully... absorbed, or ate... the undead warrior, who changed into another person, apparently one King Geralt. That name seems to mean something to Silvertongue, in retrospect; more importantly, he is apparently responsible for the blight on this canyon and his first act upon being... resurrected?... was to attempt to ensorcell us. We killed him again, and interred his corpse within the sarcophagus he, or the warrior, or whoever had escaped from. He cursed us with his dying breath. The words he spoke tear at the edges of my mind, and I am unable to recall them.
 
I do not care. I would gladly kill that monstrosity again in an instant. Thus always to tyrants.
 
 
 
I am angry with Silvertongue, for wandering off yet again at the worst of possible moments. But I am furious with Moshe, and furious with myself. He assured me that he could rein in Hexus's avarice and malice, and I believed him. Now Hexus very nearly got us all killed, and unleashed a force that could have wreaked incredible havoc upon the world... a man who deserved annihilation. Eloria came within a hair's breadth of death, Sadon tells me. We were all in profound danger, and given that the sarcophagus we found was not the vault we seek, but an entrance to its location yet deeper into this prison, we likely still are in profound danger. This is unacceptable.
 
Moshe is unconscious now. It is for the best. Sadon and I am going to reclaim the armor from the undead upstairs; I relish the opportunity to put my mind anywhere else. I hope I will have quieted my temper by the time Moshe awakens.
 
 
 
Kharak, guide my footsteps where they need to go
Khath-Tial, protect my body from those who would seek to harm it
Pyth, guide my fangs so they may strike true against evil
Rothaan, give me the courage to do what needs to be done
Agroth-Torr, guide my conscience to fight for the cause of righteousness