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  1. Journals

Four eyes, hammer fucker, and the one that can see the future.

Session
2019-09-17

Forrest didn't seem too bothered by the shadowy figure who had seen the church paladin drown himself. It wasn't as if he physically had forced him in any way or there had been any show of threat from either side. He simply decided to head back to the inn and get some sleep, which he did promptly. Soon after closing his eyes however he drifted into a very strange dream. He sat at the top of a pyramid across from a humanoid form, despite being very close to this being he could not make out any facial features or really any features of note at all. It was like looking at a mirror and seeing nothing but a vague blur staring back. This form was clearly trying to communicate, yet no sound was being emitted, becoming frustrated the being began to draw and trace in the air three characters over and over again. Forrest oddly stared, unable to speak back himself but doing his best to remember the tracings. He woke suddenly with a deep pain across his shoulders, scrambling out of his room he found a quill and drew the dream's tracings to paper. Satisfied he had done a decent job he realized the pain on his back had not subsided at all. Going back into his room he found Jayna near waking and asked for her to look at the burning sensation he was afflicted with. As if recently tattooed his skin was slightly blistered and three sigils were left imprinted across his shoulders. He held up his recent drawings, "Are these what they look like?" Jayna confirmed they seemed to match, but she was slightly confused about why and how he had gotten tattooed and why he seemed so unsure of it. Forrest seemed to make a mental note and prepared for the upcoming day so Jayna did not push further.

As all of Waldo's Lightkeepers awoke it did not take long for Waldo to drop in for an update on how the drowning went. Assured that it went fine Waldo opined that he needed to keep George of the Riverlands busy with his pseudo promise to find his sister. It was decided that Waldo, Dickie Crickets, and George would follow up on their "leads" while Jayna and Forrest go follow up on finding Jorr in the Witchwood. Jayna convinced Waldo to give her a small portion of his "walking around money" and set out to obtain a modest amount of supplies for the expedition. Forrest's preparation was to grab a special mushroom from George who advised him to get some fresh air while eating it. So Forrest took a small walk down toward the riverside, about halfway there a man joined his side in lockstep and very politely introduced himself as Lazarus Lichfield

While Forrest did indeed notice the odd tinted glasses and very dark skin color of this man, he continued to verbally joust with the new companion without bringing it up. Both men continued subtlely alluding to any amount of foul play or bad intentions during the event that took place the previous evening, Lichfield exposing his role as the shadowy figure, seemingly interested in these new traveler's connection to the Church of the Pure Light. With neither side really exposing their true intent during the conversation, Lazarus Lichfield eventually surmised that the Lightkeepers were not overt enemies to his cause and revealed that he indeed was a Dark Elf. Jayna at this point arrived with her supplies and immediately asked to wear Lazarus's sunglasses, the request was deferred. Lichfield then asked if these new travelers were at all aware of a man he was looking for that at one time took up residence in Drellin's Ferry, a man named Sertieren the Wise. While unaware of this man, they mentioned their plan to travel to the Witchwood and find a capable guide for the area. Lazarus had heard rumors that Sertieren the Wise may be hiding in the woods fearing the increased scrutiny of the Church of the Pure Light. The three adventurers united by common goals set out on foot to the North, using Soranna Anitah's directions to find Jorr's cabin.

After a morning of travel, the trio arrived at a small cabin just a few miles into the woods. After a brief discussion, Jayna decided the best course of action was to simply walk up and knock on the door. As she got closer three large dogs emerged from under the front porch at full sprint barking very loudly. Jayna wisely froze in place and the dogs stopped, poised to pounce about 10 feet away continuing to bark. Her traveling companions slowly approached at the ready to spring into action. The tension was broken with a gruff voice yelling out from the cabin. "What the fuck do you want?" Jorr emerged from his abode and summoned his dogs back to the porch. After a curt interrogation about why and how they found this place, the adventurers were invited in to discuss further. Jorr provided any drink the adventurers asked for and as they sat around his small table informed him that Soranna Anitah (that bitch) had recommended they ask him about any recent activity in the Witchwood. Jorr confirmed that several patrols of the Army of the Dragon King and the Church of the Pure Light, had recently been moving up and down the main path through the woods. As much as he hated dealing with his current houseguests, the patrols seemed to bother him more and he suggested that perhaps they were reporting to or coming from the center of the woods at the old ruins of Vraath Keep. If these adventurers didn't mind not backing down from a fight, Jorr would happily guide and assist them to the keep seeing his chance to rid the woods of any more intrusions. With everyone in agreement, Jayna tossed some food to Jorr's dogs and they set out for the center of the Witchwood.

Jorr set a furious pace through the forest after suggesting they stay off the main road, and the Lightkeepers did their best to keep pace. With a bit of begrudgingly given respect for keeping up, Jorr stopped the party after about an hour of travel as the deep woods opened to a clearing. Swift creek was always flooded at this juncture and just a few feet near the causeway built to cross the river was an upturned cart that seemed to have been recently destroyed. Worried that perhaps a trap was set at this bottleneck crossing, the party decided to carefully approach prepared for a patrol to spring an ambush. Due to their caution, they spotted a large form in the river just behind the destroyed cart. Jayna choosing to explore from a distance lobbed a bell into the dark shape. While this did spring the suspected ambush, it was not from the military patrol that they had been expecting.

A five-headed hydra erupted from the water charging the readied combatants. Jorr yelled out, "It's a fuckin Hydra! Stay away and stay spread out... kill that thing!" he backpeddled and drew his bow simultaneously. His shot rang true scoring a devastating hit causing one of the heads to slump. Forrest following orders backed up and produced the oddly shaped weapon he had pilfered from the church paladin. With a loud buzz and hum the weapon discharged but completely missed the target, leaving a trail of diffusing green light. The hydra closed quickly and split attacks between Jayna and Lichfield. The multiple heads flailed wildly and struck the dark elf true, almost leaving him out of action before he could even act. Jayna after holding her ground stoutly raised her warhammer and brought it down with enough force to tear a head from the hydra's body. The head stalk bubbling blood Jorr yelled out, "Don't you know shit about Hydras! Somebody burn that with fire or acid or we are gonna soon have a bigger problem!" Lazarus Lichfield attempted to oblige the request by reaching into his knowledge of the arcane to summon some burning redemption, but the pain he had experienced caused to great a distraction and he was unable to produce any arcane effects. Jorr repositioned himself and caught the hydra's vision releasing it with an arrow that both succeeded in distracting the beast and doing a bit more damage. A second shot from Forrest's laser finished off the second head, with the heat from the beam having the added effect of cauterizing the wound. The now three-headed distracted hydra released some primal rage to overcome its injuries and bit deeply into Lazarus Lichfield, two of its heads grabbling flesh and pulling different directions almost ripping the dark elf into two. His body slumped to the ground with a groan where he began to convulse. Jayna responded by again swinging her blessed hammer and striking the hydra's head with a direct shot that ripped it from the beast's shoulders. The beast now massively damaged tried to pull out of combat and a flurry of warhammer blows and arrows prevented it from escaping back into the swelling water. Forrest ran to the side of Lichfield and with a few healing words got the dark elf back to his feet, hanging on to life but left with a horrible scar from the experience. Jorr was impressed by his travel partners and reassured them that fighting some pansy soldiers would be no trouble after felling a hydra. They all took a celebratory pull from the fine drink Jorr brought along and they quickly crossed the causeway, now very close to their destination at Vraath Keep.

The group came upon Vraath Keep just as the sun was beginning to set. The partially ruined structure seemed to have some occupants and a discussion about how to best approach these possible enemies led to an intense debate about how to best proceed. Forrest decided to bring some clarity to the group and after a muffled prayer a third eye opened from the center of his forehead. He explained that he had the ability to glimpse into possible timelines and in the timeline that saw the adventurers storming the front gate of the keep resulted in arrows shooting into the group from the stables and a contingent of warriors pushing out from the non-ruined SW tower to meet the group in combat. Knowing that this was a possible future the group chose a more subtle approach and scaled the northern wall to try to explore the stables. From the partially broken down rampart, they were able to look below them and see three soldiers of theArmy of the Dragon King off duty and a few horses bedded down for the evening. Jayna placed some caltrops blocking the path from the stables to the main courtyard as the rest of the group readied ranged weapons. Jayna quietly scaled back down the inside of the wall and after a distraction from the group above that sent one of the soldier's checking why one of the horses had woken and reared up, she struck unseen crippling one of the soldiers before anyone else could act. Jayna continued to battle with a second soldier while the final soldier quickly mounted a horse and made his way to the stable exit. His horse running straight into the caltrops slowed him to the point where the waiting group made quick work of the soldier, his horse sprinted out of the castle but a well-placed arrow from Jorr Natherson dropped the fleeing beast. Within the stables Jayna after being disarmed was able to uppercut her foe knocking him completely unconscious. The group tied up the living soldier and quietly moved into the courtyard.

After finding one of the southern rooms seemed to be used as a basic armory and quick repair stop for entering and exiting patrols, it left only a single unexplored tower, the one Forrest had seen filled with soldiers. The group again set for an ambush and started making commotion to bring out the expected occupants of the tower. True to the vision several soldiers rushed into the courtyard, none as imposing or as strange-looking as the hulking humanoid with a reptilian head and large two-handed axe. The combat was short and furious as Jayna swung her warhammer, Jorr yelled commands and launched arrows, and Forrest alternated between murmuring prayers and firing his stolen church beam gun. Lazarus Lichfield however demanded the most attention on the battlefield with spells manifesting in strange and terrifying ways as arcane energy swirled around him. Rats seemingly swarmed the dark elf, pouring out from his clothes and running from the edges of the battlefield to swarm around his body, a cloak of astral feathers manifested from his shoulders as he pointed toward the dragon-headed humanoid. The axe in the hands of his opponent glowed for just a moment before it began to quickly age, the wood and steel becoming worn and damaged in moments before eventually dissolving away into dust. The spectacle and surprise of the group's attacks allowed their combined might to quickly overcome their opponents without any real resistance from the overmatched soldiers. Continuing the strange ritualistic magic, Lazarus Lichfield ran up to the body of the slain hulking creature and waved his arms over it for mere moments, resulting in the body to float into the air before subliming into a powdery black mist which gently fell to the ground where it was quickly eaten by the swarming rats. The group with no other combatants to face moved into the tower where they saw a man rushing quickly up the tower stairs with a large parchment tucked under his arm. After being commanded to halt, he froze glancing at the battle-hardened group and seemingly mulling over his next action. He without word dove through the nearest window and free fell down to the ground outside the keep where he hit the ground headfirst with a sickening thud.

Lazarus Lichfield no longer was filled with arcane energy and he was left not only naked from the waist up, but also looking ravaged by time itself and unable to walk without the aid of his staff. He went to the body outside the keep and quietly removed his shirt and fine jacked, which only were stained with a small amount of blood, and proceeded to dress. The large parchment he held was still wedged under the body and it appeared to be a map of the Elsir Vale with notations written over the original inked areas. His jacket held an unsealed letter, correspondence from a different member of the Army of the Dragon King. As the group looked over these things and discussed what they could mean, Forrest again opened his third eye and seemed narrated yet another vision. "The back of the tower..." he said before snapping out of his trance and moving to the rear wall of the tower. He lifted a loose stone block and pressed firmly on the switch it once hid. A loud clank announced the presence of a trapdoor on the floor below shifting open and releasing a staircase descending to the basement. The adventuring group carefully descended down the darkened passage and into a foyer with three additional rooms, each guarded with an iron gate.

Jorr looked at the group with a smile. "Who gets first dibs?"