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  1. Journals

Expedition 13 - Shay's Account

This is an excerpt from the book Arcane Happenings and Righteous Quests in Yeoldelands, written by Shay Longladdle.

… It was the third day of my stay in the town, when I finally met Rarder, Crane, Yello and Hats. I heard of their exploits before I even set foot into town. Luck  of the dells stood with me as they were just looking into expanding their ranks. We spent the next day getting to know each other and discussing our next steps, while Hats recovered from what looked like bad sunburns and which I later came to know were acid burns caused by a monstrous ooze.

Yello, the specialist of the group, suggested we also hire another of his particular skills. One recruitment callout later we had a handful of hopefuls. No other specialists though. Artzua, the priest militant, piqued our interest however. Promise of purging chaotic forces from the Redwood Keep and a gift of a bottle of holy water persuaded her to join.

With our preparations done, we boarded the barge and headed towards the Redwood Keep. There was not enough room for everyone for the barge, however Crane simply put on a magical ring and he was able to follow the barge, walking on the river as if it were a paved road. It was raining heavily that day, and of the days to come, however water droplets simply slid right off Crane. Another enchantment woven into the ring. We arrived as the sun was setting down and we camped in the vicinity of the keep.

On the morrow of the next day, we approached the keep. We headed not for the keep itself but for a fallen siege tower, which was concealing an entrance into the underground. Making our way towards the goal of our expedition, the group checked on several of the doors they left spiked. Most of the spikes were removed by someone. We replaced them, doubling the amount of spikes used and concealing some of them.

As we moved on, we were assaulted by a pair of giant spiders moving along the ceiling. A barrage of ranged projectiles and a swing of Hats’ mighty polearm later, they were dealt with. Not knowing the species of the spiders, I removed their heads and packed them with me, for later identification and possible venom extraction.

Another, more mundane, obstacle in our way was a rusted portcullis. It stubbornly resisted our attempts to lift it for what felt near to an hour. Despite oiling the upper bars and two of our strongest joining their strength to get it open. Once we managed to get past we explored the corridor where the group fought the ooze beforehand. It ended quickly in an alcove, single armored skeleton crumpled in the corner.

We backtracked and some careful exploration later, we opened a pair of brass double doors. In the room beyond was a glowing lectern and two motes of light, guardians, protecting a book laid upon it. A tome of forbidden knowledge. Thankfully they did not seem aggressive as long as we didn’t touch the tome they were protecting. Crane made a valiant effort to convince them to release it but it went nowhere. Otherwise we had a fruitful conversation revealing many truths about the Redwood Keep and the tunnels beneath it. The tunnels were many centuries, mayhaps milenia, older than the keep itself. They were built by a lost elven civilization and guardians themselves were in the employ of an elf called Eulgotr. We also learned the skeletal mage who roamed the tunnels made several attempts at defeating the guardians and stealing the book. Besides that, guardians graciously allowed us to “clear the trash” left behind by less fortunate adventurers. Some of which we later came to recognize as unbelievably valuable.

Once we were satisfied with the questioning, we backtracked again. Locked reinforced door stopped us this time. After Yello’s failed attempt to pick the lock, I handed a pickaxe to Hats and he was able to gently chip away at the stone next to the locking mechanism, making minimal damage to the door itself. As we opened the door a maniacal laughter and rattling of chains echoed from all around us. Disturbed but determined we marched forwards. Path through a long corridor was barred by a pile of desiccated corpses. Artzua called upon her faith to make sure they were not unliving, waiting in an ambush. Skeletons deemed safe and pushed aside, we pressed on. Another identical door and some twenty minutes of Hats chipping away at the stone.

What waited for us beyond the door was a score of animated skeletons standing in a dark room. From beyond where our light could reach flew a streak of purple magic, hitting Hats square in the chest. Feeling outnumbered, we started a hasty retreat. Artzua turned back to lob the flask of sanctified water and Yello tried a couple shots and the skeletons but there were simply too many. Thankfully we proved faster than piles of bones held together by arcane energies.

Once outside we noticed we’re being shot at by a group of feline humanoids standing on the ramparts. I summoned a spell to cast my voice behind them, confusing them momentarily. Crane, who was carrying a magical shield, interposed himself between us and the rest of the shots. With this danger averted we returned to the barge and headed back for the town.