Journal 2 - Ambush Routed

The past week was spent trying to get our bearings and learn more about the Isle of Leumadaria. Our party travelled from Windrest to Knightrock, a warrior city with high regard for the god Sothar. There are two gladiator arenas in Knightrock, with one being used for duels, and the other being reserved for trying to attain the favor of Sothar. Myself and Castien decided to bet on one of the duels, with him and Myricaceae even going so far as to try and rig it. Castien turned Myricaceae invisible and threw him into the arena to heal our combatant, barely managing to disguise the motion from the guards. Unfortunately, despite succeeding in "rigging the duel", the combatant we cheered for was sorely outmatched and failed to gain the upper hand. I lost a gold piece on a lousy warrior who couldn't keep from being knocked out when everything was working in her favor. I'd hate to see how she would fair in a real battle. After the duel, we met a catfolk ranger named Asren. He had noticed Castien and Myricaceae's antics, and we all had a good laugh about the event (away from the guards, of course). Asren asked to join our party and adventure with us, as travelling alone is far more dangerous than travelling in a group. We then decided to travel to Gemgarem, a dwarven citadel, to see what we could learn about the obelisks and to locate the mysterious relic that Moonshadow appeared to have lost in the battle with Captain Koltos the pirate. I will, however, leave the explaining of those curiosities to the magic users. We also heard some rumors of a giant bear attacking the city of Lakecrest, and were told that goblins and orcs occasionally find their way out of the tunnels below Gemgarem and attack the citadel. Supposedly there is a city of people tied to the earth elementals somewhere down below, though no one has the slightest clue where, as anyone who ventures down there ends up lost or dead. I also learned that Captain Koltos' ship (The one our pyromaniac plant friend blew up) had dwarven-made cannons. The dwarves swear by never having met the pirate, though, and had no idea how he obtained them. After spending a few days in Gemgarem, we decided to start the journey to our original destination, the city of Amberlight. The party opted to travel through the forest (I would have much preferred the swamps, but apparently catfolk and elves are afraid of water). After travelling for a time through the woods we encountered some strange skeletal dogs that attacked us. While we were occupied with targeting the dogs, several ghouls circled around us in an ambush maneuver, though I doubt they were smart enough to plan it. Our party performed admirably, despite being ambushed, and completely decimated the enemies. It was a fun, albeit quick, fight. I end off this journal as we begin to set up camp. Hopefully no more undead try to eat us as we sleep.