22nd of Frostbringer

This is going to be a long one. So much has happened in the past couple of days that any free time I’ve had has gone to other things. But keeping up with these records is important. I don’t want to lose any of the information. So without further ado, yet another entry of The Adventures of Lance Fenleth begins~
 
My adventure continues as we leave Ta’Lorak’s smithy on the 16th. The group was eager to get to town and discuss our findings with people. Most importantly, we wanted to find Dana, Odessa, and Theo. Odessa had shown her willingness to help and Father Miller said they had not been influenced yet so we were on limited time. So off we went, taking note of the mist patches that Hem had noticed. There was only one left and it seemed to be watching the smithy. By the time we got to town, it had not left that area.
 
After arriving at town we immediately went to the inn. Upon arriving, a couple of people were at the tavern. First, we noticed Mayor Thorne. He was discussing things with Theo and nodded at us as we entered. This was a good sign, seeing as a couple days prior we had “killed” Father Miller. Other than him, a Vistani was at the counter. Her hand was bandaged and we recognized her as the Vistani at the trial who testified against us. Finding a seat at one of the tables, we started our long day at the tavern.
 
Odessa came over to us and asked for our orders. We mentioned wanting to talk to her, but she said we would have to go to her place later that night if we wanted to talk. She seemed a bit spooked, so it made sense. She also set up a conversation with the Vistani women for us. Skolvar bought her a drink and she called him over after some chatting with Odessa. Meanwhile, I caught Mayor Thorne on his way out of the inn. He mentioned that both Dana and Odessa had been missing for about 2 days at that point while Father Miller had been missing for 4. Surprisingly, he actually hinted at us looking into it. However, he said he could not help us and that we should look into it sneakily. Denise had stirred up talk around the town and was blaming us for the disappearance of Father Miller. She wasn’t wrong, but as far as I knew she had no proof. Thankfully though, being stealthy is one of my specialties so I thinked Mayor Thorne for the information and returned inside.
 
My conversation wrapped up around the same time Skolvar’s did so we all reconvened and shared our information. I explained everything Mayor Thorne told me. Skolvar couldn’t tell us much other than that the Vistani harbored no ill will against us. That being said, she wanted to keep her identity a secret and he wished to respect her wishes. Looking back on that though HAD HE JUST TOLD US THEN- sorry. As it turns out, that might have been Iri! Our Iri! I’ll explain more later, but had he just told us who that was then we could have spoken with her then and there. But anyways, we spent the day at the tavern and eventually left in the evening to head towards Odessa’s house.
 
Skolvar led the way to Odessa’s house of course. We all know why. After arriving, she barred the door behind us. Curious that she had a bar, but I suppose if she’s spooked it makes sense. If she was contacted I wouldn’t blame her for being on edge. I let Skolvar lead that conversation though. I had hoped that if he was the one talking to her she might have been more inclined to give us information. Unfortunately, while we got a decent recount of the events from her, the important information couldn’t be given. Just like Father Miller and Ta’Lorak, her nose started to bleed when we asked about certain things such as the day. Clearly something is messing with them, something similar to a contingency spell. If this happens more often we’ll have to take note of what prompts it so we can find a pattern. Before leaving though, the topic shifted to a necklace that Denise had given to Odessa a couple of years back. I asked Jenel to use her detect magic spell and we found that it emanated both an evocation and a divination aura. I told Skolvar to try to get her to let us examine it, but when he finally got his hands on it he asked if he could keep it for the time being rather than just taking a look. She agreed and we left, but this was confusing. On our way out though, she mentioned that she needed something from the smithy. Hem offered to go grab it and we told him it would be alright. I figured we would make our way back home soon enough and probably see him on the way.
 
On the way over to the church, I asked Skolvar for the necklace so I could identify it. Took a lot of convincing, but he let me do it. Immediately upon touching it though I felt a surge of magic. The thing tried to take over my mind, but I was able to resist. Identifying the necklace revealed that it was a necklace of fireballs with 6 beads remaining, it made it easier to scry on the holder, and it was cursed so that any man who touches it and can’t resist the charm feels like they need the necklace for themselves. Finally, if it’s unwillingly removed after being attuned to a man, the beads blow up. That being said, it was easy enough to just lift the thing off of Skolvar’s neck without him knowing. Since I had already resisted it once, the curse couldn’t take effect on me for a day. We decided to give the necklace to Arvenna due to the curse not working on women. It would make it easier to scry on her, but the fireball beads would definitely come in handy.
 
The church… to think we would find what we did in the basement. When we got there, Arvenna and Skolvar entered first in order to cause a distraction while I went to go look for the basement entrance. Jenel didn’t want to go inside and nobody blamed her. She stayed at the front, saying she could turn invisible if it came down to it but she didn’t feel comfortable going inside. No matter though. We went inside and I waited for a distraction. However, the distraction turned into scaring everyone out of the church as I heard Skolvar shout “Does Pelor forgive rapists???” There was an immediate exodus of everyone in the church and I was able to activate that mechanism that revealed the basement entrance. Skolvar joined me while Arvenna stayed upstairs with Jenel.
 
The basement did contain some of the expected things: sarcophagi, burial shrouds, prayer books, etc. But most important was the electric door that we found. It was sparking electricity and locked behind it was a large celestial. She was gagged and seemed unconscious as she bled on the floor. A statue behind her that resembled an illithid was drinking her blood. Perhaps this was the reason the upstairs fountain was bleeding, although Arlian destroyed that fountain and it remained destroyed on the material plane. I wanted to check the remains of the fountain to see where the blood might be going, but we messed up that plan. I wanted to free the celestial and decided to cast my shatter spell on the door and nearby wall. Skolvar went to warn the others before doing so and brought Jenel down with him. She identified the celestial as a solar. That didn’t change the plan, but unfortunately the spell didn’t destroy the gate or the wall. Additionally, the gate shot a bolt of lightning that would have killed me if not for Arlian. How many things in this church will I have to write “would have killed me if not for Arlian” about? Finally, it set off an alarm spell. The only positive that came out of this situation was that the solar was conscious and stirred when it heard the noise. I used my telepathy to speak with it, but the only things it said were to run and find Iri. I have so much to write about if this is actually the Iri I know. It would make a lot of sense, her being here. But more on that later.
 
We ran, and as we did so the mist started rolling in faster than we had ever seen. There was a HUGE humanoid in the mist. It seemed to be lumbering towards the church, but we didn’t stay long enough to figure out what it was. Immediately upon seeing the mist we all made a mad dash for the well. It was looking like Jenel and I weren’t going to make it until she misty stepped us into the well itself. I was able to catch her as well as the rope so we didn’t fall and hurt ourselves, but had it not been for that I would have been… melted? After Skolvar and Arvenna came down the well the rope came with them, burnt at the top by the looks of acid. We pressed on for a bit, but it was late in the night and our bodies couldn’t go further. All I remember is waking up the next morning within the cave.
 
We pressed on once everyone was awake in the morning. The path was misty and took a while, but we eventually found ourselves at the same crossroads where we had to kill Father Miller after he had turned. The three passages, one leading to Skolvar’s ship and the other two being unknown to us. This time, we ventured through the north passage. The journey took multiple hours, but we soon found ourselves at a farm. We were surrounded by wheat and the familiar sight of the Miller residence. The building looked aged, but it was within the mist so perhaps that had some effect on it. Screams could be heard from all over the house, but upon opening one of the windows they fell silent. Even the interior of the building was old, destroyed too. We decided to make our way to the barn. The screams were loudest from there, specifically the basement upon further inspection. But before we could get to the basement, hellhounds attacked us.
 
We made quick work of the beasts. It was my first fight since Arlian’s transformation and I felt great. Sure, the hellhounds hurt but I felt much more useful to my friends. The dogs didn’t stand a chance! But anyways, we made our way down to the basement. Our first sight was a pile of corpses, a very large pile. One of them was against the wall, crushed by a ball and chain. Skolvar checked and it was Denise Miller… As he did that, Arvenna peeked around the corner and saw Dana. She was shackled and transforming into some sort of monster. She was begging to be fed. From the looks of it, she had been force fed and given the surroundings I would guess her meals consisted of people.
 
When Jenel saw Dana, she immediately rushed over. We followed, and thankfully we were right behind her because Dana reached out to grab us. I was able to dodge, but she grabbed Jenel by the neck and was choking her. Arvenna was quick to react, trying to misty step the two of them away. When that didn’t work though… I knew the hand had to come off. Between Skolvar and I we were able to cut off Dana’s transformed hand and free Jenel. Dana cried out in pain, but just continued to ask for food. However, that was when we saw her.
 
Out from the corner of the room walked the one and only Reina. I remembered the stories from your journals, but I didn’t recognize her at first. It was through conversation and the sight of that wicked rapier that I realized who that bitch was. At first, she introduced herself as a neutral party. She had a hand in whatever transformation Dana was going through, but Denise was the only one who could stop it. The group had a bit of back and forth as I tried to place her. They discussed things around the area, the mist, Mystvale in general. But once I recognized who Reina was, and made it clear that I knew, the conversation quickly turned. She demanded something from us. In exchange, she would let us walk out unharmed. If we offered her something she was interested in, we would get Dana as well. I didn’t trust a single word she said. Mom, your journal made it pretty clear how evil she was. “Homewrecker” was used a lot if I remember correctly. But anyways, Jenel and Arvenna were speechless, unsure of what to say in response. Skolvar tried to talk his way out of the situation. His idea wasn’t bad per say. He tried bluffing, saying that he knew a way off of this plane. She didn’t buy it, but when I told her that there was indeed a way but it was closed, she bought it. I earned us passage out of the basement knowing full well that she could slaughter us if it came down to it. We didn’t get to leave with Dana, but that was a sacrifice we had to make. Even if we did get Dana out, that wasn’t her anymore. While she recognized us, I think she recognized us as food, not as her friends. We had to leave the poor girl, but we left the basement after Reina warned us that we shouldn’t search the rest of the house if we knew what was good for us.
 
Fuck Reina. I didn’t believe a word she said, but information from an untrustworthy source is more to work with than no information at all. With heavy hearts we made our way back to the front of the house. We checked Denise’s shop for supplies, perhaps things Hem could use since he’s into alchemy. Afterwards, we ended up making camp inside of the windmill. It was a dreary place. There was a body at the base of the windmill. It looked like they had tried to climb to the top but a part of the ladder broke and they fell to their death. We gave them a proper burial, but the entire night was spent hearing the moans of Dana as I was forced to imagine what Reina was doing to her.
 
Morning came and the moans stopped thankfully. It’s a wonder that I fell asleep with the constant reminder of who we left down there. We had a plan though, one we discussed before going to sleep last night. We agreed to travel towards Fort Thornewall. Apparently, the Vistani camp is near there and after discussing what the solar told us, Skolvar revealed that the Vistani called herself Iri. So that was our plan, but first we were curious what was upstairs in the Miller residence. Reina didn’t warn us not to go up there with a threat of her doing something. She said we’d find what was left of Denise, and that’s exactly what we found. At first, all we saw was a magic lab. But upon looking through all the windows, we found a room with broken furniture everywhere. Through the wall came Denise, or at least her spirit. It literally just floated through the wall and tried to possess me. It eventually came down to where we were to fight, but we dealt with it. Jenel was dealt a heavy blow, but I was able to heal her and we quickly left the Miller residence.
The walk was long and cold. The mist still surrounded us as we returned the way we came. Eventually, we reached the same crossroads in the cave but seeing as it was late we decided to go back to the cove. We made camp once we reached the familiar sight of Skolvar’s boat, but we made sure to camp in an area where he didn’t have to look up and be reminded of the wreckage. We split up for watch and I had a good talk with Jenel during our watch. While she was absolutely proud of Arvenna’s growth, she feared the day that Arvenna wouldn’t need her anymore. She didn’t know what to do, but the thing is I don’t believe that day will come. It’s like… I think of some of the teachers back at college. Sure, they taught me what I know and one day I might become better than them when it comes to spy work. But i’ll always view them as my teachers. While I don’t understand Jenel’s religion, that parallel came to mind so I tried to convey that message. I made sure to let her know that while we all appreciate that she worries about us she needs to take time for herself too. It’s not healthy to just let those emotions stay bottled up, but I sure am one to talk. It looked like the talk worked for Jenel though so i’m glad. She has been through a ton in the past couple days and I wanted to let her know that we’re here for her if she wanted to talk.
 
I was woken up by Skolvar. Everyone was hushed because they spotted a water fey during the second watch. It was just sitting out on the water, watching. Waiting. We realized that Hem mentioned being told to go to a water fey at the cove we found when he dreamed of Ki. We assumed that was it, but we didn’t want to fall prey to the same charm-like effects that Skolvar experienced last time he got close to the water. We let him go first though, tying a rope around him. The plan was that he would keep an arm in the air and if he got charmed his arm would presumably drop. If that happened, we’d yank him back. So, he walked out, and within seconds that arm dropped and he was pulled back in. I can’t imagine what the water fey was thinking, seeing what was going on as it just floated there. But on his second attempt Skolvar was able to walk out to the amused fey.
 
Their conversation was an interesting one. I could hear it from where the rest of us were standing in the back, probably a good 40 feet away or so. We wanted to be far enough to where the mental effects didn’t extend to us, but close enough so my telepathy could reach Skolvar. Essentially, the fey, Nereid, offered us a trade. She would answer Skolvar’s questions in exchange for something. She left the something vague, but I figured a water fey might not be well versed in land delicacies. Even more so, the delicacies from Prism. I called Skolvar over and used prestidigitation to make some of our dried fruits taste like chocolate. He offered them to Nereid and she accepted this trade, answering his questions. He mostly asked about things related to his boat, but the conversation ended with a potential alliance. If we gave Nereid something more permanent, she would give us some of her water so we could summon her. It was something to keep in mind, but at the time we didn’t have anything permanent that we wanted to offer. Perhaps an ally in the future, should we need it. But with that conversation finished we headed through the north passage rather than the southern one like we had last time.
 
We walked for the entire day. It was long, boring, and dull. I thought about playing some music to liven things up but seeing as we were still in the mist I didn’t want to attract any monsters. We eventually broke for camp and that’s when Jenel asked the question that she knows there’s no right answer to. She said she wanted to take watch with Skolvar, but if anyone wanted to take watch with her instead then she would join them. And when she said that last half, she directed it at Skolvar and I. Alright, I’m sure you understand the issue here dad. And mom, I bet you love watching the reaction you get to that type of message huh. But see, Skolvar and I are smart! We just didn’t answer! Took the fun out of her game and saved us the comments we would have gotten no matter what answer we gave. Although in the end, Skolvar and I ended up taking the same shift. I think we all lost at that point, sticking the two people without darkvision in watch. Note to self: next time Jenel poses that question, just play along. It’s probably for the best, and I could probably turn it around to make her flustered rather than the opposite if I wanted to. It’s possible, I've seen her looking.
 
Now normally, the two people without darkvision taking watch together probably would have been a bad idea. But this time we actually noticed the attack coming. There were noises from further down the tunnel. We woke the others up as I tossed a light rock over there revealing… Denise? Yup, it was Denise. And she looked young again. Young, and not a crushed mess between a wall and large rock. As she got closer and noticed us, we could hear her calling for Jenel. Of course, we took her out quickly, but she left a mark on Skolvar. This mark could be activated once a day, harming Skolvar in the process before allowing her to see what he sees for 10 minutes. That, and even though we killed her she would come back. Turns out she’s a revenant now.
 
But we continued on. Another day worth of travel. Thankfully, we found the light at the end of the tunnel by the end. We had finally made it outside of the cave and it looked like it had deposited us somewhere along the Gray Ridge Mountains. We couldn’t tell where, but it was late and we decided to rest for the evening. It was too early to go to bed though so Jenel suggested that her longsword training be started. The suggestion was good. She does need to learn how to use that sword. But she received no training whatsoever. What ensued was Arvenna and Skolvar beating her up! They went all out on her, both in the 1v1 and the 2v2. Bullies, both of them. And Skolvar. Oh man Skolvar is a warrior that’s for sure. A trained soldier. The events that unfolded will not be recorded in this adventure, but we can leave it at this: all of our butts hurt and Skolvar received payback.
 
Before we started our watch shifts for the night, Skolvar and Jenel went hunting. They were able to catch a deer and bring it back for dinner. We hadn’t had food other than our rations in a couple of days so that meal really hit the spot. In order to really make it taste good, Arvenna and I flavored it. I suggested the taste of ramen, specifically the Ichigo from the Banzai Bankai. I told Arvenna what to make the ingredients taste like while I took care of the broth and it tasted delicious. We settled down, watch shifts were decided on and it was actually a good night for once. We had fun. It felt like we were back at our home enjoying each other’s company.
 
Arvenna joined me for watch and we talked a bit. Before long though, both of us noticed a flickering of lights off in the distance. Then there was a howl, and a couple more. Hellhounds again. We woke up the others just in case, but I snuck up to the cave mouth and threw a light rock off into the distance. They saw the light, chased it, and I made sure to dispel it before they got there to keep them searching. That kept them away from the cave and we finished our rest before moving forward.
 
The next day of travel was perilous. The plan was to venture through the forest just outside of the cave until we found the road. Once we found that, we could venture to Fort Thornewall. So we traveled, but it turns out there was a pack of hellhounds that patrol this area called Brynhildr’s brood. Skolvar had heard tales of them at the inn and it sounded like they were a nasty bunch. We were able to sneak through the forest without disturbing them, but in doing so we got a look at what had to be Brynhildr herself. She was huge! We might have been able to fight her if she were alone, but we were in the heart of her territory so she would undoubtedly be surrounded by her pack shortly after we engaged her in combat. So we kept sneaking, making sure to mask our movement as we went. Eventually, we hit the road, but it was getting close to nightfall.
 
Normally, we would have begun making preparations for camp. Hunt for dinner, get firewood, etc. But instead, I wanted to try the new spell I had been working on, tiny hut. It’s no magnificent mansion like you can cast mom, but it worked. Everyone was glad to have a comfortable, warm, safe campsite. We knew that Denise would be on our trail, but at the very least with this spell we would be safe until morning. The others went to gather some supplies anyways and I took a bit of time to start decoding Denise’s journal while they did so. It’s written in a deep speech cipher. I wonder what secrets it holds, but I’ve got the training to decode this thing so it’s on me to do it when we find free time over the next few days. I’d do it while walking, but that’s honestly a pain. Keeping an eye on the road, our surroundings, my companions, and the book is a nightmare.
 
So I now find myself writing this very long, past-due journal entry while I take a break from working on this cipher. Honestly, I’m a bit more hopeful than I have been. If Iri is here then we have an incredibly powerful ally to find. I know I didn’t speak to her much when she came to visit, but she always seemed nice enough. I do wonder why she’s hiding from me though. That Vistani walked right by me at the tavern. I’m sure she has her reasons, but we have information that could benefit her. Perhaps she can make sense of this place as well. And even if we can’t help each other in regards to the mission, finding someone from my home will be a huge relief for me. At this point anyone would sacrifice a lot just to see their friends and family again, especially after the conversation I had with dad. If that does turn out to be the Iri I know, we’re due for a very long talk. Stories about home by the campfire are in order.
 
Until then though, I suppose it’s about time to get back to working on this cipher. I’m worried about Hem, but he’s smart. Self preservation is definitely at the forefront of his mind, even if he does stop to help everyone and everything he sees. Besides, it would seem his god has him fighting my fight as well. Some sort of divine intervention is bound to bring us back together soon. I just hope that whatever force brings us back together doesn’t lead to trouble. In the words of Iri: Fuck destiny.