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Journal Entries - Running 'Round in Rat Holes Journal of Aravin de Tylmarade Time Off in Mithril With the riches recovered, I have commissioned a suit of master work, spiked, full plate armour. It is to be crafted with a large device of Corean on the back of the breast plate done in relief. I’ve asked that the swords in the symbol be made from mithril and adamatite. The time it takes to create such a suit is eight months, but it will be well worth the wait. It has been agreed within the party that we shall take some time off from adventuring and stay here in Mithril for some five weeks. I have taken to praying at the foot of the Golem at dawn each day. I enjoy the walk to the Temple, and relish the sight of the Golem as it gleams brilliant in the morning sun. I fill my days with work at the Blacksmith here in Mithril. The smith’s name is Taibo Hazan, and his work is of exceeding quality. He has offered me a 50% share of the profits on any item I craft, which is an excellent deal. I’m pleased to write that several of Galius’ Crows now carry swords and axes that bear my smithing seal. In fact, impressed as he was with my work, Taibo has agreed to let me use his forge when it’s free. Having enquired into the price of mithril here, it will be sometime before I can afford to purchase enough to smith my own blade, but when I secure the coin, I’ll have a fine forge to work with. One morning last week, I sought out a priest of Corean at the Temple. It seems there are no laws, state or church, pertaining to the use of the necromantic arts. The issue is one of morality, rather than legality. Raising beings who worshipped gods in life is not accepted, however. It seems rash then to cast judgement of Viktor’s predication to the dark arts. It would be wise to observe how responsibly he wields his power. With work run dry at the smith, it’s come time to find what fun and games Mithril has to offer. The gaming house offers exciting times, if expensive at the Roulette table. I haven’t enjoyed myself quite so much for a very long time. Rats! This morning, as we were leaving the Sailor’s inn, we came across a woman in the street begging for help from two Grey Guards. These braggarts, with no sense of justice or civic duty, wanted no part in helping someone who couldn’t pay them for their time. Such fiends do not belong on the side of the law. We stepped in and learnt that Lina feared her brother and cousin kidnapped. Mulkin and Dynugh had not been seen for several days after leaving for what sound like shady business dealings behind the tattooist shop, nearby the Bawdy Wench. Stopping in at the tattooist shop, I saw a good opportunity to secure the tattooist’s help with a show of good faith, and purchased a tattoo from her. The tattoo is of Corean’s holy symbol, it stretches from my shoulder to elbow on my right arm, and wraps completely around the back of the bicep. The work is exquisite, and my associates and I agree that the flames of the forge appear to dance and burn before your very eyes! The tattooist, Qureena turned out to be mute. Obviously not from Mithril herself, unfortunately she knew little of Mulkin and Dynugh’s dealings a few days earlier. Our investigations led us to the Bawdy Wench next, then to Grey Guard holding cells (where innocent men were wrongfully imprisoned) and then to Vekk Ratskin, the ratcatcher here in Mithril. We learnt that the missing boys had been contracted to do some ratcatching themselves, by Thail at the Custom’s House. The rats therein proved to be mansized, and wielded massive axes! We would have been overpowered and slain if it weren’t for the undead minions that Viktor raised and commanded to aid us. Truly, he saved us all that day. I am beginning to see that his necromantic powers are an asset to the group. Thankfully, we were able to rescue Mulkin and Dynugh. I suggested that they work for Vekk Ratskin, instead of going into the rat catching business on their own, and into direct competition with Vekk. They seemed agreeable, and it seems like a harmonious match. The group has agreed that something must be done about the corruption within the Grey Guard, and we will endeavour to have them disbanded. A solution doesn’t present itself immediately however, with Mithril’s law enforcement stretched to thin to respond. Perhaps an alternative shall present itself, I will be vigilant. I have spent sometime reading up on the old histories. The glorious role Corean played in the Titan’s War, how the Mithril Golem held the tail of Kadum just long enough to ensure victory, and the humble beginnings of the Order of The Mithril Knights. The library here in Mithril is outstanding and it has indeed been remiss of me not to come here more. Journal of Fatso Fjalar I have taken a leave of absence from the party my journal… I am sure they will make do without me. Surely Corean will perform a FEW more resurrections before the ever righteous god becomes bored with the fickle paladin! Eshella’s tutorage has taught me much indeed, two spells which I am currently researching are proving to be most powerful and exciting! Stone Window, the easier of the two will grant me the ability to create a one way portal of vision though walls! And Battlecry will stun my enemies and force them to the ground, both of which get pride of place within my ever burgeoning spellbook. I cannot wait to try them in battle! Journal of Ruegoth Ulgon We recently had an encounter down in shacktown. Aravin, Viktor and I were walking through the area when we saw two grubby men, similar to the two men that I had met previously, standing over a young woman. Aravin quickly took control of the situation and cleared the men away, who were apparently members of the grey guard. Supposedly these grey guard are actually hired by the crow's to keep order in this part of town. What actually seems to happen is they use their status as the law to run a protection racket. I am beginning to dislike these people more and more. The woman, Lina, asked for out help in finding her brother, Mulkin and her cousin, Dynugh. They had not been seen in a few days and she had last heard that they were going to meet some men. We headed off to find these two men, but instead found the most unusual tattoo parlour. The tattooist, Quareena, did not speak a word to us and communicated through writing. Aravin got the most amazing tattoo of the symbol of Corean on his upper arm. As I looked it I swore that I could see the flames leaping from the forge! After a brief stop at the Bawdy Wench, we learned two men had been arguing with Veck Ratskin, the local rat catcher. We also learned that the Grey Guard had taken two men and were holding them in a makeshift prison. We quickly went and investigated this prison, and with some very fast talking Aravin and Viktor managed to get the men released. This confirmed to me that the Grey Guard were nothing more than a bunch of thugs with a badge. These are exactly the kind of people that I really dislike. The rat catcher, Veck Ratskin was a strange little man that looked very much like a rat himself. He told us that the two men we were after had been taking business off him and had recently taken a job from him down at custom's house. Aravin smartly suggested that maybe the three of them could team up, a suggestion that would definitely be good for Veck's business. We headed down to custom's house we were spoke to Thale. He told us that the two men had gone into the south west wing and he not returned. We grabbed our gear and headed into the wing. The south west wing was a strangely cluttered place, with stacks of paper in no apparent order. After some time exploring we found the missing men, and a bunch of rat-men with great axes. Viktor also showed us what he had learnt in his time off, animating one of the rat men into a skeleton and the other into a zombie. A little later on while exploring just ahead of the party, I was spotted by four rat-men. I quickly ran back behind a corner and tried to hide. A great battle ensued and I remember felling one of them before falling under a great axe. I woke the next day back in the Sailor's inn. We spent a few days resting up before going to see the Crows. Aravin, Viktor and I had had enough of the Grey Guard and wanted to do something about it. The head of the crows told us that he could revoke the Grey Guard's deputy status but in the end it would do little good, as there would be nobody to replace them. We decided to think about this at a later time. We also managed to purchase a few much needed healing potions. I ended up having to loan Aravin the money for two of them as I found out that the Paladin had gambled all of his money away on the roulette wheel. I would not have thought of Aravin as the gambling type! After we healed up, we headed back in to custom's house. We painstakingly trudged through the upper level finding nothing but boring old cargo manifests. When we headed back downstairs, where we quickly encountered more of the rat men and some dire rats. This time, we had less trouble than we did previously, partially using some smart tactics and with help from one of Viktor's zombies. We explored the rest of the caverns and we quickly discovered that the corridor opened up to the blood sea, just underneath the docks. I will have to remember this for the future, just in case I ever need to get back into the city. Still I don't fancy wading through the blood sea to get here. While we were looking out at the sea, I turned to investigate a noise behind us. I was shocked to see five rat men behind us. Fortunately, Aravin and I managed to defeat them again with help from Viktor in the form of a large summoned skeleton! After clearing out the rest of the complex, we left the customs house and headed down to Aravin's Gambling house to celebrate. Viktor and Aravin managed to win some money and I ended up 150gp down, while trying to win some money for some more healing potions. The next day, I decided that I needed to find what was causing my nightmares and whether this had anything to do with my skin getting pale. I knew that I was not going to be able to sort this out by myself, so I enlisted the help of a friend, who agreed to help me as long as I covered his costs. As always, I was extremely careful in making sure that I was not followed, as I know he would not appreciate his existence being widely known. On the advice of my friend, I spent the next week in the library doing research about my possible condition. At the end of the week, I returned to my friend with piles of notes. After a few weeks being poked, prodded, having my violent dreams analysed and having a vast assortment of spells cast on me, my associate finally came up with an answer. He was taken initially aback when the spell finally revealed the true nature my condition. After a few moments he calmed down as he put together all of the pieces of the puzzle and started to explain it to me. We sat and talked for many hours that night as it took me quite some time for me to overcome my sense of disbelief about what I was being told. One thing was very clear, although I was being plagued by violent dreams of power, I would always remain in control of my decisions and my personality would not be effected by the changes that were happening to me. It was still not clear what other physical changes would happen to me in the future. I only know that they will continue to happen as time goes on. Two things remained perfectly clear to me. Firstly, I had to keep this from my companions. I don't think Fatso would care but neither Aravin nor Viktor would understand what was happening to me. I doubt that either of them would react violently towards me but I am not positive. In my heart I know that I am still a good dwarf, but I still fear that their decisions would be clouded by their own prejudice if they ever discovered the truth. Secondly, I must return to Delane if I am to truly understand this. I must talk to my father, Ortiz. Journal of Viktor von Haelsburg |