Journal Entry 3: Victory and Failure

Hello again, it has been a week or two since I last wrote. Since then, things began to look up and then were crushed into the ground again. I suppose I should just tell you what has happened. After the siege, we began rebuilding efforts. It went well and we had managed to clear the dead and rebuild the walls. But of course, we can't go 2 days without a problem and then came Theron. He had arrived in town looking for me and the others. He had stopped in a tavern and had killed someone. He was taken to the keep to speak with the mayor. We made our way to the keep to meet him and see how big of a threat he was.
 
Once I got there, I approached him and laid down a Zone of Truth. He then explained that he had been killed and resurrected by lady cassotoria over by the lakes the Tortles are from. He had been in the middle of his wedding and was attacked and killed. He came here to inform us of the danger of Blackwind. Blackwind is the leader of all of the undead forces in the area and is planning of sending his armies to conquer the world. I was disheartened to know that this major victory we had just won was just a very small fraction of his forces. He then offered to help us in defeating and his lackeys, but some of the others were hesitant to allow him to join us. I asked him some questions to make sure that he meant no harm to us or the people of Weshaven. Every word he spoke was true.
 
I spoke with the others and agreed we would take a wagon and travel with him to his manor. Once we arrived, we were contacted by a witch that Theron owed a favor. She said that if were to help her, she would give us a piece of the holy avenger. Once she disappeared, Theron told me what the weapon was and how he also had the crossguard of it. After some more persuasion, i got the party to come with me to the den.We traveled to her den in the barrens to the north and met her 2 ogre lackeys. She told us there was some rare amber inside a ant hill she wanted. she gave us a shrinking potion and had her ogres direct us to the hill. Me, Uzu, and Sulvarax drank the potion while Rilithae stayed outside on watch. One thing i did not expect from shrinking was how much it would decrease our fighting prowess. My armor was also reduced in effectiveness, to the point where the ants could pierce the steel. Whatever the reason, me made it through and got the amber. The ogres came back and nearly drowned us in growth potion. And as soon as we came out, we were hit with their massive clubs. Thanks to Rilithae's watch, we were able to take them down swiftly and made our way to the cave to kill the betrayer. When we found her, Rilithae did not hesitate and took out the remnants of the shrinking potion and threw it directly into her open mouth. Honestly, it was a sight to see and showed her actual capabilities. Once we found the hilt, we left and headed back to the manor.
 
Once we got back, Theron told us that Blackwind's forces had taken interest in the ruins of a old castle to the west and wanted us to either destroy or steal what they wanted. When we left we thought it would be a simple mission, we couldn't have been more wrong. After traveling for some time, we made it to the ruins. After some investigation, I saw that we were not alone here. Blackwind had sent a group here to retrieve what he wanted. Sulvarax used a spell and made a doorway into the keep. Once we were inside, we realized the room and only one exit and it lead directly to the enemy. we waited in ambush and listened to their advance. We sprung our trap and fought with with these "death guards". They were a much more powerful undead who still held their martial training and prowess. They were also selfless and would frequently take shots for their masters. They held us back while the rest of their group made their way deeper inside the keep. In their company, thay had a oathbreaker named Damian. He would try to muddle my mind with magic and thoughts of abandoning my oath. I broke through and followed him as he retreated after his allies. They put up a arcane lock on the wall, Uzu quickly cleared the lock and open the way into the next room. When he opened the door, I immediately felt the heat of lava and the power of necromancy at work. The room was massive and was hidden underground beneath the keep. It was a cultist worship room, depicted to a dragon. There were at least 20 cultists and the company of undead inside. We could see 2 necromancers working on resurrecting something inside a massive pit. We Charged forward into the fray in a effort to stop the magic. But every time we tried to stop the magic, a death guard would take our attacks or he would just be unfazed. We pushed ourselves the the verge of death but it was all in vain. The necromancer completed his spell and revived the ancient dragon, Gidryntawg. He immediately took off and flew away, taking his cultist in tow. We killed the rest of Blackwind's forces and processed what had just happened. We healed our wounds and took the dragon's horde so Blackwind couldn't take it.
 
As of the time writing this, we still do not know where Gidryntawg has gone. But we have learned of where the main source of skeleton production is. We are currently on our way to a hopefully secret entrance to the graveyard. I will write again when we defeat the necromancer and stop the production.