Karlgamers (Kingmaker)

Game Master Karlgamer

To discuss this Kingmaker game.

I will try and post an IC journal written by my character, writing about our party's adventures. Here is the first part, covering the first several game sessions (from level 1 to level 3).

Journal of Maximillian Dreiden, Sorcerer and Adventurer Extraordinaire

24 Calistril, AR 4710

I applied for and received a royal charter for exploration and colonization of the Stolen Lands today. There were others present in the magistrate's office with me; adventurers and potential comrades in arms. We all signed in front of the magistrate and were given a nicely made parchment copy of the charter itself. I feel excited and scared at the same time. The Charter gives us full rights to eliminate banditry upon pain of death in our assigned territory. It is issued by Surtova himself, the regent of the Dragonscale Throne, so we are essentially backed by royal authority. However, there will be no royal support; just what we can accomplish on our own.

26 Calistril, AR 4710

I've been on the road for two days now, traveling with my new comrades - Light the monk, Jadrick the summoner (with his strange pet, eidolon by name of Percy) and Fiona the monk. Light is strange and inscrutable, speaking little. His skills are yet to be demonstrated but his confident gait and lightness of foot indicates he might be very dangerous in a fight. Jadrick is a gnome, fairly chatty as kind are known to be. We seem to get along well. Fiona the druidess is a bit more withdrawn but seems happy enough to be part of our group. Weather is fair but cold - the late winter snows have only just melted and the temperatures are barely above freezing. Sun helps during the day, though.

We're all determined to cleanse the Stolen Lands from monsters and bandits and clear the territory for colonization. What dangers and riches await there is hard to foretell. We will arrive at the Oleg's Trading Post tomorrow, which is to be our home base in the Lands.

28 Calistril, AR 4710

Oleg's Trading Post is a small walled encampment located in fields and meadows in the northeastern section of the stolen lands. Brevoy is just across the border to the north. From here, we are in dangerous territory. There is no law or civilization here except that which we establish or enforce on our own. Oleg and his wife Svetlana are a pair of charming traders and colonists who make a living trading with the trappers, adventurers and other travelers on this seldom-used road.

After a brief discussion with Oleg and his wife, we settled down inside the outpost to talk about our next move. The Charter allows us exploration and clearance of the so-called Greenbelt, a strip of land nearest to Brevoy across the northeastern section of the Stolen Lands. In brief, land for about 36 miles around the trading post falls under our nominal jurisdiction, a bit more to the south than in other directions.

The first order of business appears to be securing the very outpost we're in. Apparently, a group of bandits has been extorting money and goods from Oleg and his wife on a regular basis in the past couple of months. They visit once a month, one hour from sunrise on the first day of the month, and demand tribute. Tribute has consisted of trade goods and furs, the most valuable items Oleg has in his inventory. Bandits seemed eager to return to their camp, somewhere in Greenbelt, after every visit. Svetlana thinks their camp is about a day's ride away. First bandit visit accounted for 12 thugs, with two apparent leaders, one woman and one man. The thugs were armed with crude weapons, the man had a bow, and the woman leader seemed most dangerous and was armed with hatchets. The woman bandit took Svetlana's wedding ring. On later visits, only the crude hooded man and his thugs were present, first 6 of them, later only 4.

We decided as a group to ambush the bandits as their monthly visit will be soon, and to deal with their leadership in their lair as well.

29 Calistril, AR 4710

We rose a few hours before dawn and Fiona disguised herself to appear as Svetlana, who normally hands over the monthly tribute. The rest of us hid in the outpost, waiting in ambush. Bandits showed up on time, about an hour past sunrise. There were 6 altogether - the crude hooded man and five thugs, all riding horses. We ambushed them and killed all in a brief struggle, during which we took no injuries. My color spray proved most efficient and Jadrick's pet was very scary and killed a few of the bandits on his own.

After that, we questioned one survivor bandit for information before we executed him. We had an argument regarding his punishment but in the end, we decided to follow the traditional penalty to banditry in Brevoy - death by blade or hanging. In this case, it was the blade. After that, we set out south and west to find the bandit's camp, riding our newly acquired horses.

After several hours of riding, we encountered a small group of kobolds guarding a patch of moon-radishes, of all things. They were not very communicative so we left them alone. We followed the instructions we received from the executed bandit and reached their camp, a few hours from sunset. There was no opportunity to parley or give the bandits a chance to surrender, as they attacked us on sight. The fight was harder this time and we were all a bit injured, but once again we were victorious. Only one of the bandits was captured alive, a man by name of Jeb. We grilled him for information on other bandit bands and his former compatriots, and he told us what he knew.

Apparently, the bandits in Greenbelt mostly work for the so-called Stag Lord, a bandit leader of some repute. He has a hidden camp somewhere in the area. The password for his camp is: "By the bloody bones of saint Gilmore, who wants to know". Seeing that Jeb the bandit was pleading for his life, I decided to spare him and my companions agreed. I hired him to be a mercenary warrior for our group, for 3 silver pieces per day, paid by me. He is to guard me and will remain in our service until the Stag Lord is defeated. At that point we will discuss his future. We decided to stay overnight in the bandit camp.

1 Pharast, AR 4710

We took two leisurely days to travel slowly back to Oleg's trading post. We explored along our route and investigated the area for potential signs of trouble, finding none. I took some time to learn about the forest and it's creatures from Fiona, as she seems very knowledgeable about the topic. I am sure this kind of knowledge will come in handy sooner or later.

Upon reaching Oleg's, we let him know of the bandit defeat and returned his stolen goods to him. He was very happy and pleased, giving us a 400 gp reward for defeating at least 6 bandits (this was a royal warrant, not granted by Oleg personally, mind you). We gratefully accepted. While we were bandit-chasing, apparently Oleg received a number of notes and posters from Brevoy, mostly wanted posters and offers of rewards for various monsters and bandits roaming the land. They were delivered by a passing group of soldiers. The following possibilities for adventure were offered:

- Svetlana wants us to get radishes for Oleg for moon radish soup - needs a basket-full, 250 gp reward
- Oleg wants tasselworm head mounted on his wall, offering 600 gp for an undamaged tasselworm head
- The Brevoy soldiers asked if our group can capture Folgrim Sneag, with 4 masterwork weapons of choice reward offered by soldier by name of Kesten
- Oleg offered a 1000 gp reward in trading post credits for finding his wife's wedding ring
- A reward of 6 magical animal bane arrows was offered for killing the Tuskgutter, a very famous animal (giant boar) in the region
- Resolving the concern about kobolds dwelling in Calmlands south of Oleg's post, for 800 gp reward

We took some time in examining various possibilities for adventure, and eventually decided to try resolving the situation with kobolds first, with a visit to the kobold camp guarding moon-radishes as a good initial step.

2 Pharast, AR 4710

We took a day to travel to the small kobold camp nearby, where we traded some silver coins for a basket-full of moon-radishes and some information about the main kobold tribe to the south. Apparently, the kobolds there are called the Soothscale tribe, and they used to be good, or at least about as well-behaved as any kobold can be expected to be. However, there was a recent change in leadership of some kind, apparently a conflict between Tartak, the chieftain, and the shaman. There was mention of devil worship, a plague in the kobold village, and constant battles with mites local to the land.

Apparently, these mites are evil vicious little blue creatures, of faerie origin, and completely unrepentant evil nature. They live north of the Soothscale village and have been fighting with kobolds for a while.

We decided to try and find the Soothscale village and deal with the potential mite problem as well, but went to deliver the radishes to Svetlana first.

3 Pharast, AR 4710

We passed through Oleg's post today and dropped off the moon-radishes with Svetlana. She urged us not to discuss them with Oleg, as she was surprising him with his favorite radish soup dish. I thought it was very sweet and romantic thing to do. We continued on our way south, exploring.

4 Pharast, AR 4710

On our way south, we encountered a vicious owlbear. It attacked without provocation and we had no choice but to kill it after a brief fight. I took some owlbear teeth as a souvenir, hoping to make a necklace out of them someday.

5 Pharast, AR 4710

Today we found a cave, about two days ride south from Oleg's. It was fairly hidden and in a dry section fo the hills. The cave was empty and small, making for a warm and protected camp site, so we spent the night there. We marked the location on our maps, hoping to get some use out of this site in the future.

6 Pharast, AR 4710

Approaching the kobold village, we found a ghastly battleground. Hundreds of kobold and mite bodies, in various degrees of decomposition, littered the grounds. We found a strange, wicked looking tree on a hill, with many more mite bodies around it. We explored around it and discovered secret complex just beneath it. In there, we found and fought a number of mites and their disgusting giant insect servants and pets. The battles were hard but we prevailed. I was stung and bitten more than a few times, but it was worth it.

We freed one kobold prisoner and grabbed a fair amount of loot as well as an evil-looking idol from the mite lair. The kobold we freed indicated where their village was and that the idol should be returned to either the chieftain or the shaman of the kobolds. We took his advice and let him lead us further.

Closer to the kobold village, we were ambushed by wolves. We slew 5 of the beasts and skinned them, getting 4 nice pelts (one was too damaged by our blows for a good pelt).

The kobolds apparently live in the caves dug into the side of a relatively barren hill. Our kobold guide led us inside, past some guards, into a large cave. Since according to our kobold guide, the shaman was more inclined to evil, we gave the idol to the chief, who promptly smashed it. Apparently, this led to a sort of a revolution in the kobold tribe, as the chief then led his faction to attack the shaman in his lair. We followed, and were stopped by what was shown to be an illusionary wall.

After a short stop, we figured it out for an illusion and went past it. We found what appeared to be a strange warrior completely covered, head to toe, in black. Our monk, Light, managed to demonstrate this warrior was also an illusion, and finally we penetrated the lair all the way to the shaman's room. The shaman was a kobold who had mastered some illusionary magic and proved a tough opponent. We defeated her and handed her over to the rest of kobold tribe, but we kept her loot for ourselves. The kobolds were amicable enough for our help in defeating their shaman, and we departed on reasonably good terms with them.

7 Pharast, AR 4710

We arrived back to Oleg's outpost after a day's hard riding and picked up our reward for resolving the kobold situation. With the shaman's defeat, they were unlikely to return to raiding so the problem was resolved without killing them off. We also made arrangements with kobolds to organize a regular trade between kobolds and Oleg's – apparently kobolds mine silver in their caves, and are keen to trade it for various items Oleg can provide.

While going through the loot we obtained from the shaman and her cave, we discovered Svetlana's wedding ring and returned it to Oleg, who was very grateful. We decided to spend the night at the outpost before setting out to do more exploration.

8 Pharast, AR 4710

I feel very sick, and Light is almost as bad. Our druid, Fiona, believes we contracted the red ache, a serious illness which causes weakness of the flesh and loss of strength in limbs. I will write more once I get better.

19 Pharast, AR 4710

I am finally feeling better. I was very ill with red-ache for nearly two weeks; Light recovered much faster than I did. In the end, I am well now and we are ready to set out and explore more of the local area. We will concentrate on area adjacent to the outpost for the time being. Oleg told us about an old hermit south-east from his outpost, who occasionally sells magical potions, so we intend to investigate that as well.

I ordered some items from my share of Oleg's credit, which should arrive by wagon a few days hence. I asked for antiplague and antitoxins, a specially-made backpack, waterproof bags (just in case) and this very interesting spring-loaded wrist sheath. It's really useful for wands, potions and such. I also got some replacement bolts for my crossbow – I was almost out.

During my long recovery, I spent time focusing and meditating. My practice of various spell-forms paid off as I finally mastered the spell of ghost sound.

Later in the day, we discovered a big area with many skeletons covered in spider webbing, due south from Oleg's. During our exploration, we ran into a huge spider, man-sized, which immediately attacked us. It proved no match for our party, however. I took a small sample of the giant spider's webbing, hoping it had arcane uses. We also discovered some coins and useful items on skeletons spider left behind, as well as a small, crude treasure map, with a tree drawn on it. If we stumble upon such a tree, we will be sure to search for treasure.

20 Pharast, AR 4710

We found the hermit late in the day. The hermit, whose name escapes me for the moment, lives in a simple hut built in a small valley between the hills. He was a bit strange but amenable to trading for his magical potions. Apparently, his crafting skill is limited but he had some useful potions for sale. I purchased one potion of healing, called cure light wounds – better safe than sorry.

The hermit wanted us to provide him with some fangberries, for which he is willing to give a 20% discount of any potion purchases for a whole month. The fangberries are apparently located in a thicket, some 55 miles southwest from Oleg's outpost. We spent the rest of the day exploring the area around the hermit's hut, but found nothing of interest.

21 Pharast, AR 4710

While moving northeast from Oleg's, we ran into a group of 6 bandits. The bandits declined to talk and chose to fight, so we killed them all with little difficulty. This area is relatively open and dry. While I am no expert on farming and soils, what knowledge Fiona the druidess shared with me indicates this area to be a reasonably good match for farming, should it be colonized in the future. I made a note indicating such on my map.

24 Pharast, AR 4710

After exploring the entire area immediately adjacent to Oleg's trading post, we returned to Oleg's. There, we encountered a cleric called Jhod Kafkin. He was very interested in our group and asked for our help. Apparently, there was once a temple to his god Aresdil in the forest south or west of the outpost (the location being lost with time). Rumors are the temple has strange bear guards. Jhod offered a lifetime of spellcasting services to us if we found the temple. We generally agreed to help but only if opportunity arose.

The goods I ordered arrived and we picked them up, along with a few items ordered by my compatriots. I did sell my old backpack to Oleg for half price. We set out east today, to explore the road going in that direction.

25 Pharast, AR 4710

While exploring along the eastern road yesterday, we ran into a werewolf! The wolf-creature attacked without mercy, but we slew it. It reverted to human form after dying, revealing a man clad in chainmail with a sword and a wand. The wand was magical but I was unable to identify the type – I've never seen the like before. Hopefully we can get some advice about it from someone with more skill with arcane items.

Today, we ran into a thylacine, which is a wolf-like being also, and killed it as well. It seems this area is teeming with wolves and wolf-creatures, all eager to fight and entirely unreasonable.

27 Pharast, AR 4710

While exploring generally south of Oleg's outpost, we ran into a strange glowing blue skull. It attacked without warning, shooting sparks and striking us with some kind of miniature lightning. It appeared and disappeared and we were unable to defend ourselves or hurt it. Even my magic proved entirely useless, as magic missiles failed to injure the creature. We were forced to flee after Chompers, Jadrick's horse was slain. Fiona explained that this was a will-o-wisp, a dangerous fairy being.

Jadrick insisted we name this area “Chomper's Plains” on our maps, in memory of his slain horse. We agreed to return here once we had the magic or the weapons that could kill the creature and dispatch it. I am somewhat doubtful that it will be found again – and Fiona agrees with me. As likely as not, the will-o-wisp is a wandering fae and has already moved on to somewhere else.

28 Pharast, AR 4710

A hill with a tree we passed today seemed familiar and we searched around it. Apparently, it was similar to one drawn on the treasure map we found a few days before. Percy, of all beings, found a buried cloak with items at the base of the tree. There was a spellbook with a few spells, a wand of burning hands, a mundane silver ring, and a dagger of very good craftsmanship. The spells and the wand were of interest to me, so upon agreement I took ownership of the items, as well as the dagger, to defend myself with.

29 Pharast, AR 4710

We arrived at the river today, finding a broken toll bridge. Jeb the bandit, in my service, identified the river as Shrike River, one of the major rivers in the Stolen Lands. It is fairly wide and deep at this point, and largely impassable except by bridge or boat. The bridge is referred to as the Nettle's crossing on our map because there was a note – ring bell for service, Nettle's crossing by rope, 5 coppers per person. When we rang the bell, some kind of strange water zombie arose from the river. It was not hostile, however, and we were able to converse with it. It was apparently Nettle of the crossing, and he had been slain by Stag Lord. He asked for Stag Lord's body, offering passage across the river in return. We agreed to deliver the body, sans the head, once we defeated the villain. We looked around the river for a short while and decided to head back to Oleg's.

My investigation of the spellbook we recovered two days prior revealed that following dweomers within: identify, mage armor, reduce person, silent image, and unseen servant. I resolved to study and potentially copy such spells into my own spellbook when opportunity arises. The spell of identify is of particular interest as we have already run into magical items beyond my modest knowledge of arcana.

1 Gozran, AR 4710

Our return trip to Oleg's passed without trouble. Once there we replenished our supplies, purchased some more rations, and got ready to explore again in the morning. We headed out west this time. Sometime in the afternoon we encountered a shambling mound – a terrifying foe, an animate pile of plant matter with a decidedly hostile disposition. We decided to flee and left the creature to its own devices.

2 Gozran, AR 4710

Traveling further west, we passed from the plains into the forest proper, encountering many bear traps. Light managed to collect most of them although we got hurt by one we didn't notice.

4 Gozran, AR 4710

After traveling south and exploring the forest, we ran into the Thorn River again, which prevented our further progress. Fiona noticed the presence of faeries on our side of the river in this area, so I left a gift – 10 silver coins, to appease them and keep them from playing pranks on our party.

5 Gozran, AR 4710

As we traveled northwest along the Thorn River, we found a herd of elk. Fiona was excited and attempted to tame one using her druidish skills, but the beast was reluctant and fled upon our approach.

8 Gozran, AR 4710

Two days ago, we crossed the border of the forest going west and entered plains once again. Today, we found a rocky clearing which was apparently a grave site. We toppled the cover stones and dug up the body buried there – I thought it was a bit disrespectful but apparently we are not above a bit of grave-robbing while exploring the countryside.

The body we dug up bore the remains of hide armor, clearly being from one of the barbarian tribes that used to roam the plains east of here. We recovered a ring depicting an eel and a frog locked in a tangle, made of green wood. I correctly identified the ring as being magical ring of swimming, albeit only a part of a full ring. Whether we can locate the second part of this ring or discover the meaning behind its split dweomer is doubtful at best.

10 Gozran, AR 4710

I almost died today. It was a very frightening experience. We've been exploring along the plains for the past two days, when we got ambushed by a giant centipede. The terrible creature stung me so fiercely that I fell from my horse and started to fade out of consciousness. It is also apparently poisonous, as I felt great pain in my joints and they became swollen. Luckily, Fiona was able to heal me with her spells and the rest of the party defeated the beast. We are heading back to Oleg's to resupply and check for any news.

11 Gozran, AR 4710

We arrived at Oleg's early today. I still feel ill and my joints still ache from the giant centipede's bite yesterday. My wounds are mostly recovered, thanks largely to Fiona's druidic magic. The constant fighting in the last two weeks has definitely helped me get better in hitting and avoiding foes. The magical practice was useful as well; I made a breakthrough today, managing two more spells I have never cast before – identify, and grease. While I had been studying the grease dweomer with Jadrick's help (he is apparently skilled with it), the identify spell came from the weathered spellbook we found hidden wrapped in a cloak, at the base of a claw-shaped tree. Both dweomers are bound to come in handy. The identify spell came in handy immediately, actually – with its help I deduced the wand that was carried by the werewolf we defeated was a goodberry wand! As Fiona is the only one among us who knows and uses that spell, we gave it to her.

While resting last night, I took the time to review the lessons I learned about the planes of existence and proper cosmology. The encounter with the devil worshiping kobold wizard/shaman and her diary reminded me that there are powers beyond this world constantly playing with mortals. We need to be ready for such.

12 Gozran, AR 4710

We are camping at a suitable site in the plains, one day's travel west and north from Oleg's outpost. The plains here are nondescript. We were attacked shortly after settling in our camp by a creature identified as a grig – a fae normally inclined to goodness, but prone to tricks. The grig used an entangle spell to snare our party, but was swiftly cut down by our summoner and his eidolon. Some 504 copper pieces were recovered from a bag carried by the creature.

I hope that this is not a sign that normally peaceful fae will start attacking us on sight.

13 Gozran, AR 4710

Traveling through the day, we passed from the plain into the forest. About mid-day, we found a long-dead trapper, pinned to the ground by large logs, apparently as he was setting a trap. Whether this was a random accident, or perhaps the work of his foes or a mischievous fae, we cannot tell. Judging by the nearness of this body to the large number of bear traps we found in the forest some weeks back, I judge this to be the trapper that set them.

We burned the body to prevent it from rising as an undead. While we thought this unlikely, it pays to be prudent. The trapper had scarce few possessions on him at the time of his death; we did recover a finely crafted hand axe from him. We spent most of the day exploring this area.

The spring from which Thorn River flows is located here. It curves into a part spiral, before issuing east and curving south to flow towards Shrike River, which it joins some three days of riding to the south.

14 Gozran, AR 4710

While searching southward and exploring the forest, we encountered a ruined temple or a chapel. Apparently, it is a large building nestled into a side of a hill, mostly overgrown and slowly crumbling to dust. The entryway is supported by fancy pillars of stone, and leads up by partially demolished stairs to a landing, before dropping down again by stairs to the inner area, dug into the side of a hill. There is a pool of shallow water, oval-shaped, perhaps 20 feet in length and 10 in width, in the courtyard in front of temple proper.

When we approached the temple itself, a ferocious large bear attacked us from within. Although Fiona attempted her best to tame the savage beast, it proved unmoved by her charms and fought it to the death. Jadrick's pet eidolon again proved very efficient, enlarged to the bear's size by Jadrick's enlarge person dweomer, while Jeb proved his value for the first time by engaging the beast with club and spear.

At the moment of the bear's death, it turned translucent, transformed into a form of a man, which then crumbled to dust while still being transparent. No remains were found and we could explain this strange event. I speculate the bear was a magically enspelled guardian of some sort, placed there by the priests of the long-abandoned temple. While the party searched the insides of the temple, finding nothing of interest, I made a very curious discovery. Apparently, the water in the pool just outside had cleared after the fight and now possessed curative properties!

Some brief experimentation revealed that a small draught of the water, drawn directly from the now clear and sparkling pool, could heal injuries as well as one of Fiona's basic healing spells. My dreams of vast wealth to be gained from this magical resource fled, however, when we discovered the water lost its sparkle and healing properties within minutes of being removed from the pool itself.

We will report this temple and its location to Jhod, the priest of Asrendil, back at Oleg's. I believe we might be able to arrange something to continue amicable relations with the priest and establish this temple as a house of healing once again, hopefully to serve as a safe resting place and a way to heal the injuries we are sure to sustain in our adventures.

15 Gozran, AR 4710

Our continued exploration of the forest, by going south once more, revealed a lair of a large ground-dwelling animal of some sort. The lair was empty of anything of note, but Fiona noted the tracks nearby indicated a giant boar had taken residence within. We immediately considered the case of the Tuskgutter, a giant boar that had a bounty placed on its head, and determined to ambush and kill the beast.

Light set some of the bear traps at the entrance of the lair, while we hid in the trees some short distance west of the lair. The wind was blowing from the north, and the boar tracks indicated the animal had gone south from its lair. As were positioned aside from the prevalent wind, we hoped to avoid notice.

The boar showed up in due time, after several tense hours of waiting. It didn't appear to notice our hidden party, and blundered straight into one of the bear traps at the entrance to its lair. It roared in pain and we attacked it immediately. Jadrick chose to summon a dangerous-looking magical wolf to assault the boar, while the rest of us pelted it with spells and projectiles. The fight with the boar was short and uneventful – the summoned wolf did most of the fighting for us while Light finished the boar off with some swift strikes of his feet.

We cut off the boar's head as proof of its death, and feasted on the beast's remains as we camped nearby.

16 Gozran, AR 4710

The Thorn River barred our passage once again while traveling southeast. We did find a rickety bridge to cross, but debated at some length as the bridge seemed unsafe and it went over a 20 foot gulch the river was flowing through. Jeb the bandit finally resolved the impasse by informing us the bridge was safe to pass but only one by one, and promptly demonstrated the principle. We crossed th river and continued our exploration.

17 Gozran, AR 4710

Today's exploration yielded another crossing of the Thorn River, a shallow ford no more than 3 feet deep. Once again, Jeb's knowledge of local area proved handy. We found nothing else of interest today and plan to head back to Oleg's trading post tomorrow.

19 Gozran, AR 4710

We arrived to Oleg's post earlier today, looking forward to sleeping indoors and in proper beds. There's even a small pit dug in for a bath outside; primitive but welcome nonetheless. While my cantrip of prestidigitation can help keep us clean in the field, there is something to be said for the pleasure of washing with water that's not almost freezing cold.

Jhod the cleric was pleased at our report of his temple in the forest and set out to investigate immediately. Tuskgutter's head was presented to Oleg, who then gave us our promised reward – 6 animal bane arrows with a minor enchantment laid on them for sharpness and strength. Unfortunately, none of us really use bows at the moment (except for Jeb, but he's not noted for his skill with it) so the arrows will remain in our loot bags.

We took the opportunity to sell such parts of our loot as Oleg was willing to buy from us – mostly excess mundane weapons and armor looted from various bandits and other humanoids. Some of the more valuable items we obtained were appraised by Oleg and we sold those as well. All this haggling and appraising and bickering took most of the day so we will continue our exploration the next day.

One interesting find in the pile of our loot was the discovery that 6 of the crossbow bolts we found are magical and enchanted to be somewhat sharper as well as to emit flame upon striking their target. After a brief discussion, I added the bolts to my pack as I use crossbow more than others in our group.

Fiona and I discussed the clouds gathering east of us – it seems a storm is on its way. We have been blessed by nearly two months of mostly agreeable weather so far – the spring has been largely sunny, with occasional night rain and a cloudy day. In fact, several days were unseasonably warm, possibly indicating a scorching summer to come. While I hope weather continues to favor us, I fear the approaching storm clouds make that unlikely.

Journal entries for two game sessions in June - party finishes exploring the Calmlands, levels to level 4, and prepares to attack Stag Lord.

24 Gozran, AR 4710

Weather's finally improving. As I've feared, shortly after we set out of Oleg's outpost 3 days ago, the weather quickly turned into a raging thunderstorm. We were forced to seek shelter in a small copse of trees, and spent most of the day huddled, wet and miserable. The storm did not abate until the early evening hours, forcing us to camp at the copse. Morn, my poor rat familiar, was terrified of the constant booming thunder and spent the entire day hiding in the inner vest pocket of my coat, refusing to come out. I even offered him some spicy cheese he loves very much but to no avail. I fear he may yet prove wiser than the rest of us, at least in regards to the weather.

The next two days were cloudy and intermittently rainy, and while it rained hard upon occasion, we risked the weather and continued travelling south through the low hills. As we rose from our camp today, we found that the skies had cleared and the sun came up. Early this morning we forded the Shrike River. The passing was not easy, as the river was swollen with recent rains, but we managed to cross unharmed. Past the river, the terrain grew drier and more hilly, and there we found a thicket of strange bushes.

The bushes bore many bright berries, shaped like a water droplet pointing up, or perhaps a fang. Fiona and I conferred briefly and managed to identify the bushes as fangberries, growing in a large clump of bushes down-slope on a side of a hill. As they were of the variety sought by Bokken the hermit, we decided to harvest them in the quantity needed. However, the berries were covered in a white gossamer spiderweb, and as soon as we approached, an entire swarm of crew-spiders erupted from the thicket. We retreated in some haste and sat down to discuss the problem.

After some discussion, it was decided to have Jeb, the former bandit now turned monk, apparently, try and draw the crew-spider swarm out of the bushes where we may safely burn them with torches and my wand of burning hands. The plan went off without a hitch; Jeb was nimble enough to quickly escape the swarm once it came rushing out, and my wand of burning hands was more than enough to burn the swarm to a crisp.

Following that, Fiona volunteered to collect the berries and got herself stuck and scratched by the sharp thorns more than once, but even so, eventually she collected a full basket of fangberries for our erstwhile hermit acquaintance. The quantity of fangberries I judged sufficient for about 7 potions; while wondering what the old hermit needed them for. As fangberries spoil rapidly once picked, we decided to travel back to Bokken's hut immediately and deliver our prize. We did spend a number of hours today simply exploring the hills nearby, hoping to find another prized fangberry patch. Alas, we were disappointed.

27 Gozran, AR 4710

It took us three long days to travel back to Bokken's hut. Luckily, the weather was clear and sunny, with no wind, until today. This morning, we woke up to a slight drizzle of rain, which gradually turned into a downpour. We reached Bokken's hut by midday, wet and cold.

Bokken was very pleased to see us and received his prized fangberries with excitement. He announced he will honor his agreement with us and offered any and all potions he had in stock or could make at a 20% discount rate, for the next month. As Bokken is an adept, capable of casting spells of the second circle, I believe we will use his generous offer to the utmost. That is, once we figure out what kind of potions we could possibly ask of him.

We decided to rest for the day in Bokken's hut, until the rain passes. Bokken himself had no objections to this plan and sat down to regale us with his lore about potions and alchemy, at which he is fairly skilled. I paid quite a bit of attention and made some detailed notes; you never know when this kind of knowledge can come in handy.

1 Desnus, AR 4710

We departed from Bokken's hut several days ago, and spent most of the time trudging our way first west, past Oleg's into the forest, and then south into the previously unexplored region. We had to hunker down under some trees on the second day out to wait out a passing thunderstorm, but otherwise the trip was uneventful. The weather is unseasonably cold today, though; Morn is huddling in his pocket and only occasionally peeking at the world outside.

The forest in this part of the Stolen Lands is thick and old; the trees are massive things that seem to cover the sky and stretch in every direction one can see. The undergrowth is considerable and we are frequently forced to either hack our way through the underbrush or seek alternate routes. Fiona feels at home in these places and keeps us well supplied with food; berries, edible roots, eggs of birds or sometimes even lizards, and small animals she catches. We've scarcely needed to draw upon our stored rations so far.

A few hours past noon, we ran into a 20 foot deep open pit, obviously dug out as a trap. The broken branches and vegetation littering the bottom and sides indicated the pit was initially covered. Growling and pacing at the bottom was a fairly large thylacine, obviously trapped. The animal did not appear friendly, and while we debated what to do about it, Fiona took it to herself to try and tame the wild beast. She bid us wait, while she hunted down a fat hare nearby.

Returning with her catch, she threw it down to the thylacine, who made short work of the animal and devoured it in minutes. After that, we lowered Fiona down into the pit with a rope, and she made strange growling noises and motions, somehow convincing the thylacine to accept her. It took some doing, but eventually she appeared to have won the thylacine's trust. We then lowered the rope, Fiona somehow managed to coax the thylacine into being tied with the rope and lifted up from the pit. As soon as we let the beast go, it ran away from the party, but stayed within visible distance. Fiona hopes the creature will continue to follow us and that she will have time to tame it. We shall see.

2 Desnus, AR 4710

Fiona was apparently correct, and I was wrong. The thylacine, yet to be named, has been following us, and allowed Fiona to approach. She pet it and played with it, and finally gave it some more meat to eat. After that, the creature left but stayed within sight.

We spent most of the day traipsing through the woods, looking for anything of interest. We found nothing, and to add insult to the injury, it started to rain heavily in the afternoon and did not stop until after nightfall. It looks like we are spending another miserable night, wet, cold and sleeping on hard ground.

3 Desnus, AR 4710

We moved north today, and located the origin of Skunk River deep within the forest. It apparently starts as two hot springs coming out of a hillside, forming a small circular pond from which it issues and flows. The springs stank of rotten eggs, the fumes issuing from the fissures in the rock from which the water flowed. The unseasonably cold day today made us shiver even midday.

Later in the day, while exploring around the origin of Skunk River, we ran into a small bog, or marsh perhaps. It appeared to have couple of ruined stone buildings sinking into the swamp. We approached, curious, when we ran into a boggart (a type of small fae, miniature swamp frog people, if you can imagine) and his ally (pet?) slurk, which is a type of a giant frog with tusks. Both Fiona and I knew that boggarts were generally evil creatures, but we stayed our immediate attack as the boggart tried to communicate.

Unfortunately, it only knew a few words of common. It kept asking for truce, and telling us to go. We all racked our minds trying signs and different languages we knew. We wasted the better part of the hour trying different ways to talk, but the boggart was adamant and kept asking us to go. Eventually we decided to simply leave. We will return at a later date, armed with a spell or a translator, so that we may unravel the mystery of the ruins and the boggart.

5 Desnus, AR 4710

We followed the Skunk River, flowing mostly north through the forest, for most of the day, while cautiously exploring the area. After a peaceful night spent at the edge of the forest, we continued northwest into the open plains. Temperatures dropped again, and even our horses were unhappy with the cold.

Later in the day, while riding through the plain, a quartet of boggarts ambushed us while crossing a small gulley peppered with stunted trees. We tried to talk, but these boggarts were intent on killing us. We killed them instead and gathered some interesting loot from the bodies. Apparently, these boggarts have an eye for jewerly and curios, as they had on them no less than a golden circlet with four aquamarins, a gold dragon comb with a red garney eye, a gold music box, and a fair quantity of coin, more than a hundred gold pieces. I fear the riches came from ambushing other travelers, who had to have perished under the claws of these wicked creatures.

Hoping to find the boggarts' lair, we spent an entire day searching the plain around the ambush site. Fiona even tried to follow the boggarts' tracks back to their origin, but had no luck as she lost the trail going over some dry, hard ground shortly out of the gulley.

7 Desnus, AR 4710

After the encounter with the boggarts, we decided to turn south again and explore the forest again. We're trying to map out the edges of the forest and keeping out of the plains to the west, as they are rumored to hold great dangers and many horrible creatures.

Yesterday, while looking through the forest, we found a 15 foot stone statue of Aristil, god of family and hunting. The statue was abandoned and overgrown. I believe the statue once represented some kind of a wayward shrine, as no structure or remains were nearby. We cleared out the statue and the nearby vegetation, and prayed briefly to show our respect. I admit to feeling much more calm and at ease after the prayer. I am not a very pious man; still it pays to be respectful when one can afford to be. The rest of the day was spent making out way south through the thickening forest.

This morning, we changed directions again and set out west. A few hours past sunrise, we were hit by another thunderstorm, lasting only a few hours. Due to very warm weather, we chose to ride through the storm, which in any case was not nearly as severe as the ones we suffered a few weeks earlier.

Sometime later, we encountered a small flying beast, identified as a faerie dragon. It was unfriendly and attacked us. We fought briefly, but after injuring it some, the creature chose to fly away. As we were unable to follow, it managed to escape. However, we did notice a nest sadled high up a nearby tree.

Percy, Jadrick's pet eidolon, swiftly clambered up the tree and brought the nest down. We found some silver coins in it and an egg-shaped potion inside. The potion was magical; I correctly determined it to be a potion of moderate curing. We put the potion with the rest of party loot on one of the pack horses for the time being.

8 Desnus, AR 4710

We continued our trek mostly to the south and west. Near the end of the day, we found a small grove, with a sunken clearing in the middle. There was an insect infested pond, swamplike, in the middle. Sprawled at the pond's southern edge was a dead horse, which Fiona surmised was actually a unicorn. Its horn was apparently broken off, but the body showed no sign of rotting, untouched by insects or necrophages alike. There was a strong stink of mold emanating from the body. We also noted a faintly lingering necromantic aura around the body.

The discovery of the dead unicorn raised many questions, and soured the party's mood. Fiona in particular was very concerned. I raise the issue of the necromantic aura lingering on it, and we agreed that it could indicate some evil force, possibly a necromancer or such, living nearby. We agreed to be extra cautious in our exploration of the area.

Despite the evil omened dead unicorn, we discovered no foes or interesting locations. The day ended with our regular camp under an ancient and vast oak tree. I must mention that Fiona has been steadily taming the thylacine that has been following us since we rescued it from the pit, in the forest north of here. The beast appears fairly friendly at this point, following us at scarcely more than a stone's throw.

9 Desnus, AR 4710

We moved south-east through the forest, mapping its edges as we could. Sometime close to noon, we ran into Skunk River and discovered a ford crossing. While crossing the river, two large wyrm-like creatures attacked us. We guessed the beasts to be tatzlworms, and they proved a fierce enemy. The fight with them was brief but both Percy and Jeb suffered painful injuries from the tatzlworm's claws.

Fiona made a ghastly discovery short after the fight – she found a skeleton wedged in debris at the ford, and remains of more skeletons nearby. Judging by the remains, the tatzlworms had been ambushing travelers at the ford for months or even years. The skeleton we found was wearing a nearly undamaged suit of magical scale mail, mildly enchanted for protection. We also found a cold iron longsword of great craftsmanship, and below the skeleton was a rotten leather backpack.

The backpack had some gold pieces, many more silver coins, and a silver ring, a pewter drinking stein, a jade carving of a female elf, nude (which we though was a monk). Also, we found a scroll tube with a map of the Greenbelt, mostly covering the area north of the ford. Unfortunately, the map covered only the area we had already explored, and so was of limited use. We decided to keep it anyway. We buried the skeletal remains of the unfortunate explorer and other victims of tatzlworms.

We cut off the tatzlworms' heads as evidence we killed them and threw the corpses into the river. After that, the exploration of the nearby area yielded nothing more of interest.

13 Desnus, AR 4710

It took us a good four days of travel to return to Oleg's outpost. Other than having to wait out a nasty thunderstorm the second day out, nothing of import happened. Well, nothing of import as far as fighting bandits is concerned. I have made a significant breakthrough in my studies of magic – I have mastered my first spell of the second circle! I have never really considered that a likely goal and if it were not for all the practice and learning I've gotten from my companions, our enemies, and also from the spellbook we recovered from underneath the strange claw-shaped tree, it would not have been possible. Either way, I have managed to cast the spell of glitterdust today, and I've also learned the protecction from evil spell, of the first circle, as well as the cantrip of message, learned with Jadrick's help (he's very good with it).

I was not the only one studying and practicing hard. Light spends a few hours every day instructing Jeb, my henchman, in proper ways of fighting, and he seems the better for it; teacher learning alongside the student, as it were. Fiona seems to have learned a lot from our travels and is actively training her new pet thylacine, as its education is now at a crucial stage. Jadrick, however, surprised me greatly with his announcement that he had mastered the dweomer of haste. Normally a spell of the third circle and outside the reach of myself and most of my tutors, apparently summoners have something different about their mystical training that allows them to master this dweomer early. For them, it seems as haste is merely a second circle dweomer. Even so, the accomplishment is extremely welcome and is sure to be of great value to us all.

I should note here that my enthusiasm for this dweomer should not be dismissed lightly. Haste is considered among my learned peers as one of the most potent spells of any circle. Its enhancement to speed is a boon to mages and fighters alike, and it may even outstrip such fabled dweomers as fireball in sheer practicality and usefulness.

After arriving at Oleg's, we handed the tatzlworms' heads to Oleg and collected our reward. Svetlana, our kind hostess, fed us some of her tasty beef stew, which was welcome after many days of our poor cooking and eating scorched meat, rough roots and berries. I paid Jeb for the past three weeks and two days of service, which came out to exactly 69 silver coins.

We are going to take some time to sell our loot, purchase any interesting items, and prepare for further exploration. The weight and volume of our loot so far has indicated that we are in need of a wagon to transport all of our loot and belongings, so we are considering ordering a small two-wheeled one from Oleg. If we agree upon this purchase, it should arrive in a few weeks, with the next caravan to pass through the outpost. We have also set aside most of the valuable jewelry and curios, to be appraise and sold at a later date. Oleg simply does not have the means to properly value the items; nor the capital to purchase them from us at any rate. Light the monk did claim the nude female elven monk jade figurine, but we did not begrudge him the claim. He asks for very little most of the time that this was judged a very fair and modest claim.

14 Desnus, AR 4710

While we were settling in for a day or two of rest before we headed out once again, this time to find and finally confront the Stag Lord, Fiona announced taking a short break to finish her still unnamed pet thylacine's training. I admit the creature is fearsome in battle, and seems to be taking to our druid companion well. We shall see how it fares as a companion, however.

Sometime after our morning meal (more of that delicious moon radish soup made by Svetlana, Desna bless her), Oleg received a message scroll sent by a thrush bird. Apparently, the thrush is one of many such messengers trained to deliver small scrolls tied around their feet from one location to another. As interesting as this method of communication is, the contents of the message caused Oleg to frown and mutter to himself.

When questioned about it, he admitted the message bore nothing but bad news. During our absence from the outpost, lasting nearly three weeks, another group of bandits had moved into area, and started preying on caravans and merchants in southern Brevoy, in the direction of Restov, the nearest large settlement. They attacked with great speed and ferocity, and amassed a small fortune in loot in a short time. The message scroll warned Oleg that the bandits were on their way back to Stolen Lands and that they might attack the outpost at any time.

Useful as the message was, it was sadly lacking in relevant details, such the the numbers and strength of these bandits, as well as their dispositions, names, favored gear or tactics, or for that matter anything else of import. Oleg decided to close the outpost's gates immediately, and to hunker down in expectation of a possible attack. After a short argument, the party decided to ride out and try to intercept the bandits coming along the main road, somewhere north of the outpost. Fiona declined to come with us, citing the need for someone to protect the people here and needing to stick to the training regimen of her thylacine pet.

As time was an issue, we chose not to argue with our druidess and set out immediately on our horses. We rode north along the main trade road to Restov for several hours. Eventually, around noon, we picked a spot with two bushes overlooking the road on both sides as a good site for an ambush. While we could not be certain bandits would pass this way, as they were said to be burdened with much loot and very arrogant, we hoped they would simply use the road as it was the easiest way to travel back south to the Stolen Lands.

We tied the horses up a quarter mile away from the road, in a gulley, and then set to hide ourselves near the bushes. Some effort was taken to cover our bodies with leaves and branches, making us near-invisible to casual inspection. Jeb chose to hide in the bush opposite us; and Jadrick used his magic to provide the mage armor for his eidolon, Light and himself. I agreed to further protect both Light and Percy, Jadrick's eidolon with dweomers of protection from evil, only recently mastered by myself.

Our wait was not overlong; the sun shining overhead was warm and we sweated a bit, lying prone and still next to the road. Sometime in the early afternoon, the bandits finally showed themselves. Four disreputable figures, clad in leather armor and wielding rapiers, with bows strung along their backs, rode a large four-wheeled wagon pulled by a team of horses. The wagon was creaking under the weight of their ill-gotten loot. One of the bandits was a mean-looking dwarf; the other three were humans. I whispered the words of the protection spell and cast it upon my companions. We waited patiently for the wagon to come directly between the two bushes where we were hidden, and then we charged out, yelling battle cries.

I used the glitterdust dweomer on our foes, blinding two, while Jadrick used haste on ourselves, greatly speeding our movements. I will admit to being astonished as to the difference in sensation, being hasted. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl, while I was still moving at my apparently regular speed. Sounds were strange and distorted, being deeper than normal, the world got a bit dimmer, and I could see the most minute details of every person and object.

Strange as it was, we did not hesitate to engage in battle. My companions rushed the enemies and I fired off a grease spell to make moving harder for our foes. Light, Jeb and Percy hammered on the bandits with their weapons (or bare fists and feet, in Light's case), while Jadrick and myself pelted them with spells. The fighting was brief, lasting barely a minute, but it seemed like an eternity in my hasted state. Finally, we won the battle, and all our enemies were dead. They refused to surrender and fought with such ferocity we had to slay them all, taking no prisoners.

After the fight, we assessed our injuries and examined the fruits of our fighting. With exception of Jeb, who fell while trying to trip one of the bandits with his quarterstaff and suffered some slashes in result, we were almost unharmed in the fight. The wagon and the bandits were laden with loot and valuables, coin and gear. There was a large locked chest, heavy and likely filled with jewelry, sitting in the center of the wagon. The markings on the chest seemed to indicate it was a property of a noble of some kind. As we were not well versed in that lore, we were unable to identify the particular family or noble it belonged to. We did decide to leave the chest be for the moment, as it was never a good idea to steal from nobility; they tended to vicious tempers and long memories for such things.

The rest of the items proved promising, however. We found many coins, sadly most of the copper and silver variety, along with a magical club of minor sharpening enchantment, a well-crafted morningstar, two magical potions (of stabilization and bull's strength), a wand of endure elements spell, almost fully charged, and of course the mundane gear of the bandits. They had a rapier and a composite longbow fitted for greater strength each, as well as somewhat dirty and smelly leather armors.

I will admit that while I did correctly determine the nature and type of most magical items, I was stumped by the potion of stabilization until Jadrick pointed out that the smudge on the side was, in fact, the label; covered by dirt. Once cleaned, it clearly identified the potion. The minor embarassment caused much laughter among my companions, much to my chargrin.

As has become our common practice, we burned the bandits' bodies in a funeral pyre we hastily assembled, to prevent them being raised as zombies. While we are yet to encounter any such undead, we keep finding signs of necromantic influence in the area and we are resolved that such a foe will not have a ready supply of corpses to raise into shambling undead monstrosities. I recited a brief prayer for the souls of the dead bandits; I hope I offended no gods or spirits with my lacklustre recitation and well-wishing.

It was late afternoon by the time we were finished with the funeral arrangements. At this time we drove the wagon with its attendant horses back to the outpost. Jeb drove the wagon while Light tied Jeb's horse to his. We returned to the outpost just in time to face a very tense scene.

Apparently, while we were out hunting bandits, yet another outlaw had snuck into the outpost, and was now holding Svetlana hostage with a dagger at her throat, threatening to kill her. Oleg was distressed, Fiona was holding back for fear of Svetlana's death, and Kesrel the guard was nowhere in evidence. We dismounted in some haste and faced the outlaw.

A human man of average appearance, the man was holding a wicked-looking dagger at Svetlana's throat while standing with his back to the commons building, inside the outpost courtyard. At a quick nod from Light, Jeb and Light swiftly went to the side and started to quietly scale the outpost walls, to flank the bandit.

Jadrick and myself went to face him, trying to convince him to release Svetlana. The bandit was sweating and shaking, presumably with fear or excitement, and he delivered some kind of an incoherent message, supposedly meant for us, from the Stag Lord. The Stag Lord demanded that we leave the Stolen Lands on pain of death, and promised death and suffering to our band and anyone we held dear. He also proclaimed his lordship over the Calmlands. Jadrick and I kept the bandit busy talking and threatening, creeping closer into the courtyard.

While we were talking, Light and Jeb managed to get into position, creeping behind the bandit's back, and pounced as soon as they were able. The bandit released Svetlana in panic over being attacked from the back, and Svetlana ran away to her husband. A short battle ensued, but the bandit was no match for our party and we knocked him unconcious in short order. To add somewhat to the drama, the bandit had threatened Svetlana's unborn child before being defeated, and apparently, Oleg himself knew nothing of the child until now.

We were thanked by the grateful couple among much congratulations. I congratulated Oleg and Svetlana both and wished them well, for themselves and their future child. It is at this point that Kesrel, the supposed guard from Brevoy, showed himself. He pointed our that we had in our custody none other than the notorious Falgrim Sneeg, a bandit of some repute and the target of at least one wanted notice. Kesrel took Sneeg into his custody, and confirmed that our promised reward of four masterwork weapons of our choice will be forthcoming as soon as decide what we wanted. We thanked him; I had already decided that a well-crafted crossbow was to be my reward.

Sneeg himself had a strange magical scroll on his person, one that I identified as a scroll of speaking with plants. As it is a druidic spell, we will likely give it to Fiona for safekeeping.

After the long and hard day, filled with fighting and danger, we relaxed in the evening, enjoying what comforts the outpost offers. Soft beds, well-made hot meals, and four walls and a roof seem like such a luxury after weeks spent exploring the wilderness. We've explored the entire northern portion of Calmlands and cleared out bandits, beasts, and monsters alike. There are no more wanted posters hanging on the outpost's board, save one: the one with the Stag Lord himself. After the daunting message delivered today by Sneeg, his bandit accomplice, we remain determined to rid the land of the Stag Lord's presence and judge him for his many crimes.

We will defer the discussion on tactics and preparation for assault on Stag Lord and his gang for another day. Sleep beckons, for me as much as anyone.

16 Desnus, AR 4710

Two days ago we left Oleg's outpost and headed south. Today, we reached the area where Stag Lord, the local bandit leader, is rumored to have his fort. There is a large lake close by, called Tuskwater, and the region is hilly and well-forested. Before setting out, we divided such potions as we had between ourselves. Now, all that remains is to scout ahead, choose a plan of attack, and strike.

18 Desnus, AR 4710

We explored the area pretty thoroughly and found the Stag Lord's fort. It is a ramshackle affair, with walls of sharpened wooden stakes and some kind of a two-story building inside. The area nearby is stripped of vegetation, likely to allow for clear fields of fire. The rest of the region is pleasant but otherwise devoid of points of interest.

After the initial scouting, we wanted to get a better idea of what the fort looks like from the inside, so I volunteered to send Morn, my rat familiar. As a rat, small and stealthy, he is unlikely to be noticed and even if he is, who is going to raise an alarm for a rat scurrying around?

Alas, trying to get my wishes across to Morn proved difficult. We share an empathic understanding and he can usually gauge my mood and simple requests, but this scouting trip proved far too difficult to communicate. Fiona offered an alternative – she thought to study the spell for speaking with animals. I agreed, and we camped a fair distance from the fort; it was out of our sight at any rate. We did learn that Stag Lord sends no patrols out daily. If they sally, they do it in longer intervals.

This morning Fiona memorized the spell of speaking with animals and used it immediately. Speaking to Morn through Fiona was a strange experience; my familiar is smarter than I give him credit for. He understood our request and ran to obey. I fretted and fidgeted while Morn was away, fearful for his safety. I felt the link to him remain stable, and he was able to communicate some of his emotions through, so I knew that he was alright.

It took Morn about two hours to cross the distance to the fort, explore it, and return. During this time there were a few times when he was scared or nervous, but I restrained myself from charging out to his rescue and he did eventually return. Fiona invoked her spell of speaking with animals again, and Morn gave his report. Apparently, the inside of the fort was much as we imagined it, with some half a dozen bandits lounging about. The inside yard contained a decrepit two-story building which apparently served as living quarters and a lookout on top. Morn did locate a few suspicious looking holes which might lead underground, to tunnels or such. We speculated that the fort had a secret tunnel exit.

One thing of grave concern was the presence of an owlbear inside the fort. It was tied but appeared to be a pet. Morn noticed Stag Lord wore his trademark helmet and was constantly drinking liquor. His reputation as a drunkard seems to be justified. The other bandits were all armed with bows and arrows, making a straight-up charge against the fort a lousy strategy.

Fiona decided that we needed a view from the skies, and turned herself into a hawk, using her druidic powers. She scouted from a height and observed the fort for a while, but had nothing new to report. Jadrick then had the idea of summoning a small earth elemental and instructing it to burrow underground below the fort and to seek out the secret escape tunnel. The idea was sound; however it took two summons to locate the far end of the tunnel. It was about half a mile away from the fort, hidden by a huge piece of wood. We moved it to uncover the tunnel. From the signs on the ground we judged this escape tunnel had not been used in months or possibly years.

While we were concerned about the safety of using the tunnel, we agreed it was the best way to attack. I proposed that we wait until dawn on the following day so that we might strike at the fort when all enemies are asleep or least alert. Given the idea was sound, others agreed to it.

All that remains now is to prepare for the assault. We will cast such protective enchantments as we have in the tunnel, just before emerging from the ground. Our intent to to strike fast and kill all who stand in our way. Light, Jeb and Percy, Jadrick's eidolon will serve as our heavy hitters, while Fiona, Jadrick and myself will support them with spells. Fiona's pet thylacine is not reliable enough to be used in combat yet, so we agreed to leave it behind. We also made a brief note of our situation and hid it inside a collar we fastened on the thylacine's neck. Given any luck, it might seek out Oleg's in case we fail and deliver our final words to our friends and family.

All that remains now is the waiting.

19 Desnus, AR 4710

Victory is ours! The fighting was hard, the enemy dangerous, but we prevailed after all. We struck at dawn as we planned, emerging from the secret escape tunnel inside the fort's only building. Bandits were caught by surprise, with only a few awake and the rest scrambling for their weapons and gear even as we cut them down. The combined might of Jeb, Light and Percy struck down without mercy. After most of the bandits were dead, owlbear charged us, but we killed it in seconds, caught between an enlarged Percy enchanted with several spells and magic missiles and spells slung by Fiona.

Then the Stag Lord showed up. He wore his trademark helmet and was, amazingly, sober. His aim with the bow was very good; he fired several times and hardly missed. Furthermore, his arrows struck weak points as if guided by some spirit. Each strike was powerful and hurt a lot. Percy was nearly slain; or rather, forced away from the Material Plane to his spiritual home. However, we rallied quickly, charged the Stag Lord, and cut him down.

After the Stag Lord's death, we explored a curious hole in the ground, leading to a basement of sorts. There we fought a hostile druid transformed into a wolverine, a swarm of hostile ants, and two giant ants, one so large as to dwarf our horses. In all honesty, the giant ant at the end was more formidable than even the owlbear. It snatched Jadrick and made to rip him to pieces, but we killed it before it could finish the job.

No bandits survived the fight and we cremated their remains on a large pyre we built just outside the fort walls. It is, after all, a wise precaution, lest they arise as zombies and seek vengeance.

Stag Lord was apparently a fairly successful bandit leader. He amassed a small fortune in loot – coins, trade goods, weapons, armor, and even a small stash of magical items. It will take us days to go through it all and we will probably need at least two trips to haul all of our new wealth to Oleg's. We will camp at the fort for the day – there are still many nooks and crannies to explore, and the loot needs to be appraised as soon as possible.

22 Desnus, AR 4710

After packing all the loot we won from the Stag Lord and his gang, we decided to stop on our way back at Nettle's crossing, and deliver the body of Stag Lord himself to Nettle, the zombie now haunting that stretch of the river. We delivered the body to Nettle as promised, and received our reward in turn – an unusual weapon called a ranseur, and it was enchanted for extra sharpness as well. We kept the head of the Stag Lord as evidence of our victory, though.

Following this exchange, Nettle the zombie sank back into the river and disappeared from our sight. We explored a nearby area for a day or so. The surrounding hills are largely empty and uninteresting. The weather turned cold and we decided that we'd had enough exploring for the time being.

After one more day of raiding through the wilderness, we returned to the familiar sight of Oleg's outpost, laden with riches. Oleg and Svetlana were amazed at our arrival, and we told the tale of our valiant victory over the Stag Lord, showing his severed head as evidence. Oleg immediately sent a messenger out with Stag Lord's head to Restov, in Brevoy, and we hope our promised reward arrives soon enough.

I intend to visit Bokken the hermit soon enough, to commission some potions at our promised discount. I will inquire if others in the party want some for themselves, though. I desire potions of comprehending languages, poison delay, mirror image, and seeing invisible things. All such should aid us in our adventures.

29 Desnus, AR 4710

Today a group of travelers arrived at Oleg's outpost, with messages and scrolls for us from Brevoy. Firstly, we received a new charter for the colonization of the Greenbelt, following our victory over the Stag Lord. Brevoy's scroll promised us various kinds of aid in materials, labor, and coin, for as long as such aid is used toward the building of a prosperous colony. We discussed this development amongst ourselves and decided to take on the challenge.

After a long and intense argument, we agreed to work together on forming this new colony. I was apparently chosen to lead the colony as a ruler; my compatriots insist I have the proper skill with words and a charming way that a ruler of a new colony will need. I don't really consider myself skilled enough in the courtly arts, but I will strive to do a decent job. I wasn't truly eager to take on this role – but necessity is the mother of invention. No others in the party wanted the position and were disinclined to even consider it.

Having decided I was to rule this new colony, my first official act was to release Jeb from his service to me. I wrote an official pardon for his previous banditry, paid him the rest of his dues and gave him a bonus – 10 gold pieces and the magical curative potion we had lent to him previously. Jeb was pleased and solemn; I am unsure if his apparent change of heart away from crime is true. Only time will tell.

As for division of duties in the new colony, Jadrick set out to be our councillor, Fiona our marshall, and Light seemed intrigued by the post of the executioner (or assassin, depending on how one looks at things). My compatriots convinced me that Jeb should do a fine job as a future general, so we gave him the post and he accepted. Oleg and Svetlana Leveton agreed to be our new colony's treasurer and diplomat, respectively, albeit Svetlana protested and asked to be relieved of her post as soon as a suitable replacement could be found.

I sent word to Chief Soothscale that we wanted to talk – we plan to ask him to serve as our colony's spymaster, gathering information that we might need. I want to keep our neighboring kobolds on good terms with us, and the best way to do so is to keep them close at hand.

Kesten Garess, the Brevoy nobleman that comissioned our hunt for the outlaw Falgrim Sneeg, was offered the post of the warden, over my objections. The man struck me as a craven; but my companions disagreed and he accepted the post at any rate. I will keep a watchful eye on him and see how well he works out. I'd prefer someone else but we're literally running out of available people.

A girl named Lilly Teskerten arrived with the rest of travelers. She's obviously interested in me; her flirting is a bit clumsy but she means no harm. I wonder if I should return her interest. We offered her the post of magister after she demonstrated an interest and a working knowledge of law and legal matters. She accepted eagerly.

At any rate, we did all agree to reclaim the Stag Lord's fort as the starting point for our future colony. We will go there as soon as the tools, materials and laborers we sent for arrive at Oleg's. I hope to establish our capital city at the site of Stag Lord's former fort within the month.

29 Sarenith, AR 4710

Laboring for the past month has left me little time for writing in my journal. As I write this, I sit in my chamber in our capital's main building, on the first floor. We expanded former Stag Lord's dwelling a bit, repaired the weak places, and set up some basic furniture. We spent most of the time so far arranging for this place to be livable. Living quarters were made, stores were cleared and improved, and various other and sundry works were completed.

Chief Soothscale did eventually arrive and accept our offer to become our spymaster, after some haggling. He returned to his tribe and set out to establish a network of scouts, informants and rumor-gatherers, to better keep us in the know.

I will admit that the completion of a running-water toilet a week ago was celebrated with much cheering. I worked for a while with Oleg to determine the real value of the aid offered by Brevoy to establish ourselves here in Greenbelt – we estimated the amount to be close to 100,000 gold pieces. A princely sum, at least; however we were offered no military assistance and as ruins and rumors of failed colonies across the Stolen Lands show, creating a new nation is hard and dangerous work. There are rumors of a failed Talden colony, a mine of some sort. Rumor also says evil monks and priests of lesser known gods of hatred, oppression and spite, once dwelt on northern shores of Tuskwater lake - cultists could still be there. I am sure more dangers await us in the Stolen Lands.

I do plan on repaying Brevoy's generosity at some point. It will not serve us to be Brevoy's vassals in perpetuity, and the idea of independence is one that I approve greatly. While the past month has been filled with hard work, we also had time for personal projects. Fiona busied herself with training her pet thylacine and researching her family tree, Light practiced his fighting styles with Jeb, and Jadrick took to practicing summoning spells. I spent a while in meditation exercises; I plan to summon and bind a more powerful familiar at some point in the future. I've set my mind on a mephit, a minor elemental spirit. Morn, my rat familiar, is valuable but I want a stronger familiar.

On that note, Morn has started to talk intelligibly! Apparently, as the master's power and understanding of magic grows, the familiar grows more capable in step. I found Morn to be an excitable and endearing companion – now that he can talk, he is even more amusing than before. That being said, my understanding of magic has expanded a bit, and I've mastered a few new spells as a result: spell of acid arrow, spell of invisibility, and a spell of mage armor (with Jadrick's help).

Our party sat together with all our respective advisors and experts and came up with the general laws and rules in our colony. We chose to follow Brevoy's laws in general as regarding crime and to keep our taxes at the same level as Brevoy's. There is of yet no army or constabulary, which is to be constituted later when need arises. We agreed to hold 6 bi-monthly festivals annually, with one reserved in springtime to honor the brave horse Chompers (Jadrick's original mount, which perished in battle against a will-o-wisp in a plains area east of our capital).

Our council did discuss spending coin on promotion of our colony in neighboring lands, but we decided to spend only a token effort there; few messengers and criers will be paid and sent to nearby lands but that will be the extent of our efforts in this area.

Oh, we also decided on a name for our nation: Amalur! Fiona suggested it and we agreed. The former Stag Lord's fort is now Fort Chomper – we decided to remember our fallen equine comrade. I've made another executive decision as Amalur's ruler: from now on the ruler's position we be referred to as the Prime Minister. I like the title better than the nominal Baron Brevoy's traditions suggest as I am no great fan of nobility and at any rate we all agree to seek out full independence from Brevoy at some point. I suppose our gathered group of administrators could be referred to as our ruling council – I will see if I can come up with a formal name of some sort.

Amalur will need a flag, sign or device, official signets, and a few other things. I will sort all of that out as we go along. There are so many demands on my time, and so much work to do!

I worry about the safety of our friends and council members; other than our own party, we have no soldiers, no militia, and no guards. I worry even more for Oleg and Svetlana at their outpost. We will have to find a way to protect them at some point.

5 Arodus, AR 4710

Summer is proving hot and stormy. We've had a number of very hot, dry days recently, usually followed by a short but intense thunderstorm, bringing much needed rain. We've been breaking ground and clearing land for farms northwest of our capital city, Fort Chomper, for the past several weeks. Colonists are begininning to trickle in and settle in the newly claimed hill valleys.

Our plan is to claim land along the Shrike river valley, following the border of the forest in the northeastern direction. We should eventually claim all the land between Tuskwater lake and Oleg's outpost. We will also be laying down a solid track and road to Oleg's, with the goal of connecting our capital with the road passing through Oleg's outpost on its way to Brevoy and other lands.

As for Fort Chomper, we expanded our housing with a number of well-built houses for ourselves and our colonists. This allowed us to move out of the former Stag Lord's fort, which was flimsy, drafty and not very comfortable. Light wants to rebuild the fort into a proper castle at some point, but we agreed that the enormous expense is not justified just yet. We have to develop our income and economy first.

We also helped a local merchant in opening up a general store – this is the first step towards self-sufficiency. The presence of the store allows for more expensive items to be locally purchased and lessens our dependance on Brevoy. It is also a boon for our farmers and colonists as they can buy and sell their wares locally.

22 Rova, AR 4710

Yesterday we finally weathered a powerful storm. For three long days, the skies opened with endless rain. Winds of great strength lashed our land and constant rain led to some minor flooding in a few farms lower in the hills near the Shrike river. The construction of our settlement at Fort Chomper was put to the test; luckily we built well and other than a few minor leaks and a damaged roof or two, we withstood the fury of nature quite well.

We've been busy in the past month or so. Our surveyors continued to map and claim land in the hills in the northeastern direction, and we managed to locate and claim the thicket of fangberries which we had found a few months earlier. More farms were seeded in the area, and our road network was extended in that direction. The fangberries are already contributing to our economy as their last batch was ripe on the bush when our colonists arrived. We've set up a few huts nearby to manage this valuable plant resource to our benefit.

The harvest, such as it was, is in. Most of our farms only had a few short summer months to grow crops since they were established and so the harvest is meager. Some late summer wheat, beans, cabbage and a few other vegetables were grown. The quantity is insufficient to tide us over through the winter so we will have to supplement our food stores with shipments from Brevoy and hunting.

We helped construct more proper houses in Fort Chomper. A madam opened a brothel there few weeks ago as well. The brothel should help keep our colonists happy and act to attract more trade to our town; I suggested that we build a shrine to Calistria, the goddess most closely connected to prostitution, and gain some divine favor as well as coin in taxes from the flesh trade. As we are overly busy with many projects, the shrine to Calistria was delayed for another time.

4 Lamashan, AR 4710

Fall started in earnest with a few days of frost this month. Seeing frozen puddles in the morning reminded me that the turning of seasons will bring us to winter soon enough. I hope our colony is ready for the harsh snows and freezing winds the winter in Stolen Lands is supposed to bring.

Our contined expansion reached Shrike river and the bridge crossing it this week. As we clear land for more farms in that direction, we are going to take the time to rebuild and reinforce the current rickety wooden bridge over the river. The road northeast is a crucial connection for us; it leads to Brevoy and lands east, and is the only way for us to receive supplies and new colonists at the moment.

Fort Chomper continues to grow. A smith of some skill opened his shop in town a few days ago, and more houses are springing up every day. We help with materials and craftsmen, most of which are paid for straight from our coffers.

17 Neth, AR 4710

Last three days were unseasonably warm; likely the last gasp of warmth before fall frosts and winter snows. A week ago we were struck by a thunderstorm which lasted several hours and brought with it severe hail. Fortunately, all crops had been harvested a month earlier and there was no real damage from the hail.

Borders of land claimed by our nation have gone past the hills surrounding Shrike river and reached the lowlands near the border with Brevoy. We've kept extending our roads and building more farms as we go on.

The need to mill our grain and make our own flour forced us to construct a mill at the place where a strong stream meets the waters of Tuskwater lake. The mill now completed, we will gradually process our first harvest and hopefully have enough to provide locally made bread through most of the winter.

20 Kuthona, AR 4710

Winter snows have finally arrived! While we had a few flurries that melted quickly within the past month, and two minor thunderstorms that deposited a layer of hail, the last week has seen freezing weather all week and a steady fall of snow. The whole land is covered in white; it is more than two feet deep in places. Most travel and activity has ground to a halt. Everyone seeks nothing more than a cozy fire and a warm meal these days.

Our progress in claiming lands has reached Oleg's outpost early this month. After brief discussion, we agreed to break ground (frozen as it was!) for a new city there, which we named Olegton in honor of our erstwhile treasurer. The road building crews trailing behind surveyors, builders and farmers successfully joined the capital road to main road leading to Brevoy yesterday; we are now officially connected to our northern neighbor.

As Olegton will serve as our main trade post with lands to the north, and a major transportation hub, we paid for the expansion of the existing outpost with additional stables and feed stores. A number of solid houses were constructed to help the people needed to work there settle down, and we also funded the construction of a tannery nearby. While the smell from the tannery is already giving rise to complaints from local residents, the significant boost in economy and taxes from its operation is more than welcome. We hope that the various trappers and hunters operating in the Greenbelt forests west of Olegton will use the tannery and the budding town to sell their wares, contributing to our nation.

28 Kuthona, AR 4710

Recently, reports came into Fort Chompers of a will-o-wisp killing colonists, farmers and miners in the hills east of Shrike river. While most reports came from areas not under our direct control, the wisp did attack a few outlying farms near Fort Chompers and thus caused some unrest. Threatened, we acted with dispatch: Jeb, Fiona, Keren and Light organized volunteer patrols, and with Jadrick and myself as magical backup, we rode out looking for the will-o-wisp, to slay it or drive it away.

We spent several days out in the cold, camping in the frozen fields and trudging through snow drifts. We saw neither hair nor hide of the wisp. As reports of its attacks abruptly ceased, we can only assume the creature fled or was slain by someone. Either way, we achieved our task, protected our citizenry, and preserved the peace in the land.

One unforeseen reward for our winter expedition was encountering a group of miners working at a gold mine in the hills. We had heard rumors of this mine before, but the location of the mine itself was apparently a closely guarded secret. The miners were hard hit by the will-o-wisp and reluctantly agreed to be incorporated into our nation, along with their mine, as soon as our surveyors and road crews reach their location. I expect a stream of gold to reach our coffers once this happens; we will try and make it a priority in our planning sessions.

That being said, with Amalur's finances running low, and with Oleg warning us that we were almost out of coin, our party jointly agreed to contribute personal funds towards the nation: each one of us contributed four thousand pieces of gold, for a total of 16,000 gp. We parted with the funds with some reluctance, as they constituted the better part of our personal wealth. However, we judged the nation to need coin urgently and as we are all invested heavily in Amalur's success, we had little choice.

New Year's celebration is coming up in two days. There's a festival scheduled for the day; we expect drinking, eating, dancing and general merriment. All indoors, of course – the weather is freezing and it snows every few days.

9 Abadius, AR 4711

Cold; the word does not do justice to the absolutely freezing weather we've experienced recently. As the skies cleared and snow froze on the ground, the freezing temperatures reminded me of my ancestral village high in the mountains. Snow has formed a frozen crust on top of loose one. Stepping and walking is hard enough as it is. Even horses are having a hard time making progress in these conditions.

It has gotten so cold that when I went out of my house yesterday, holding a steaming cup of tea, I poured the tea onto the ground and it froze solid before hitting the snow. This is the sort of a trick that I'd say normally required powerful magic to duplicate. There are some spells that create extreme cold – I will have to investigate this further as it might be a useful ability to have.

Old Bokken was surprised to see our ground-clearing crews at work in his part of the plains south-east of Olegton. He grumbled a bit over our supposed intrusion into lands that he considers his, but didn't protest too forcefully. Building farms and roads in this kind of weather is slow and chancy. Many workers fall ill from the cold and we might have to reconsider our plans to continue expanding during the winter months.

Another civic facility was built in Fort Chomper recently – a proper graveyard. Harsh winters are a time of the year when deaths are more common than in warmer seasons, so a graveyard became a necessity. Given our party's standing policy on disposal of bodies, I issued a new decree: henceforth only burials performed in officially sanctioned graveyards will be allowed. All other dead bodies of sentients must be disposed of by means of cremation, to prevent necromancers from raising zombie armies. I set a steep fine for unathorized burials and assigned our Warden, Keren, with enforcement of this decree.

25 Calistril, AR 4711

Heavy snowfall has covered the land. Snow kept falling almost daily through most of Calistril, and temperatures remained very low. While the cold has not been as bad as during the first few weeks of the year, it is still plenty cold and deep snows are impeding movement and all outdoor activity.

The long and harsh winter is causing much unrest in the people. Our food reserves are running low, and we were forced to limit the daily bread ration by one quarter to stretch our dwindling flour supplies. I've sent messengers to Brevoy, asking for a shipment of food urgently, but with the roads covered in snows, who knows when that shipment might arrive. Until it does, we will have to make do with what we have.

Light has been busy quelling unrest in his own indomitable fashion. He regularly breaks up arguments and fistfights by busting heads, limbs and ribs; few are willing to keep causing trouble once he shows up. Still, he can't be everywhere at once and forced habitation in close quarters due to weather is causing arguments where none have happened before.

Our expansion in the plains close to Olegton continues, albeit at a slow pace. The road network continues to grow to the south of Olegton itself, following the lowlands adjacent to the hills through which Shrike river flows. We've cleared sufficient land for a goodly number of new farms, which will be started as soon as the ground thaws enough to allow planting.

Since a number of residents of Fort Chomper were relying on tents, lean-tos and other temporary housing to survive the winter, we were forced to fund an emergency construction program of proper houses for them to avoid needless deaths and further unrest. Old Bokken the hermit is considering moving to Fort Chomper as we are now the largest settlement in the Greenbelt. Also, another herbalist and potion-maker has opened up shop in town and provides a welcome source of coin as well as helping keep the population healthy.

Last week, I had a very welcome break in the regular schedule of meetings and parchment-work: a delegation of nixies, small water-based fae, arrived to Fort Chomper to petition us for citizenship. The nixies just emerged from the Shrike river one day and asked to see me. They are seeking protection from bandits and large predators prevalent in the Stolen Lands, and are keen to take advantage of trade opportunity our nation presents. We accepted their offer and they pledged their allegiance to Amalur.

The nixies brought a large chest filled with pearls and semi-precious gems as a gift or perhaps a bribe, to help their entry into our colony. Oleg estimated the value of the gems and pearls at an amazing six thousand pieces of gold, or thereabouts. This will prove a welcome addition to the nation's coffers come spring planting. The arrival of the nixie tribe also raised our people's spirits, as the playful and cheery humanoids settled in Fort Chomper along the lake shore.

12 Pharast, AR 4711

As I watch the ice covering the shore of Tuskwater lake, I wonder how long this winter will last. While there were a few warmer days at the begininning of the month, the cold returned swiftly afterwards and has held steady since then. There has been little snow since Calistril and what snow is there on the ground is completely frozen and forms huge ice sheets. This makes even well-made roads treacherous.

Our local herbalist has been hard at work since he opened his shop last month and has offered a potion of ant-haul for sale a few days ago. This potion apparently allows the imbiber to carry twice as much as they normally could, for a few hours. While our party has little interest in such potions as we have our cart and horses to pull it, I am sure there are laborers or hunters who might show an interest in this concoction.

Oleg reported from Olegton this month – he has finally worked through all remaining loot we have stored in his outpost almost a year ago. We decided to add the proceeds of those sales directly to the national treasury, and it came out to a decent amount; several hundred platinum coins or so. Given all the loot and items and trade that has passed through Olegton in the past year, we funded a construction of a separate dump area there. Broken things, item past assigned use, damaged by time or accident, or simply things nobody wants, will go there. A small group of kobolds has settled at the dump and are delighted to be its custodians. They were given leave to take any item they want from the dump, and to arrange for the disposal or sale of such as they like.

There is another bit of joyous news coming from Oleg: his wife Svetlana, our nation's grand diplomat, gave birth to a healthy baby girl last night. The birth was said to have been quick and relatively painless. I sent my congratulations to the happy couple and promised to organize a festival in honor of the birth sometime in the spring.

20 Pharast, AR 4711

There is trouble brewing in our colony. Feuding erupting several days ago between members of two noble families moving into the choice farmland south of Olegton and adjacent to Shrike river. This area was recently cleared and the road to there was completed just last week. Surveyors were still in the process of measuring out parcels for future farms when there was a savage fight between a small group of Montanovs, a branch of a notable Restovian noble family, and two Capultons, minor nobility from western Issia.

The argument was apparently over supposedly unwanted advances of one young Capulton toward the niece of Sergei Montanov, the patriarch of the Montanov family branch that moved into Amalur last year. The exact details are unclear to me; but that is unimportant. What is important is that the argument came to blows and several young nobles were injured.

Since then, sporadic fights have erupted whenever Capultons encounter Montanovs in public and vice versa. Both families are wealthy and influential. Neither seems willing to let calmer heads prevail and end this feud. We're sending Light to do what he can to calm things down.

6 Gozran, AR 4711

Unrest is surely brewing in our colony. Snows are slowly melting during the day and freezing again at night. Spring is coming but it is not here quite yet. In the meanwhile, the feud between Montanovs and Capultons has increased in severity. One member of each family has died in the fighting, and both sides are blaming the other and calling for harsh punishments from me.

Keren the Warden was unable to gather sufficient evidence to convict the killers in either case, which has only added to the tensions. No witness is willing to talk out of fear of those two powerful clans, and fighting has continued almost every day. Light's constant efforts to break up fights before they become too serious have managed to prevent the worst of the bloodshed, but the situation is far from peaceful.

I heard recently that Sergei Montanov, head of that family, purchased an enchanted breastplate and a strong, well-crafted sword. I fear Montanovs are preparing for a major escalation of their feud with the Capultons.

Our surveying crews east of Fort Chomper have reached the edges of the territory our party had mapped in our explorations last year. The level ground there is suitable for farming and will be divided among new colonists as fairly as possible. I am considering the possibility of trying to end the Montanov-Capulton feud by giving large land concessions to one family in the newly claimed lands, in return for moving away from the other.

The tensions in Fort Chomper came down a little bit when we opened a brand new town park yesterday. That, along with the continued program of house-building for the citizenry, has significantly reduced unrest in the capital.

16 Desnus, AR 4711

I swear, those idiotic Montanovs and Capultons will cause my premature death by irritation! The improving weather has finally melted the snows and the ground has thawed enough to begin spring planting in earnest. The planting was going well, despite yesterday's thunderstorm and hail which briefly forced farmers to take shelter in their houses. And then some Capulton had the nerve to sabotage the wagon carrying planting seeds for the Montanov fields, spoiling the whole cargo.

Predictably, Montanovs are demanding justice, and being particularly shrill in their demands. Light is once again out in the fields, doing what he can to calm people down. I will see what I can do on my end. Perhaps I need to arrange a face to face meeting between the heads of feuding families, under my leadership, to resolve this once and for all.

23 Desnus, AR 4711

Amalur's population was distracted from the ongoing Montanov-Capulton feud by the arrival of a strange tribe of kobolds to Fort Chomper yesterday. These kobolds claimed to be the Grimscale tribe, not to be confused with Soothscales, our allies. Chief Soothscale, our kobold spymaster, had little favorable to say about Grimscales, calling them brigands and thieves and bandits.

Chief Soothscale's reservations aside, Grimscale kobolds requested asylum and protection in our nation and offered their accumulated treasures in return. I overruled Soothscale and accepted Grimscale's offer, and they promptly moved to settle in a valley overlooking Tuskwater lake, near the capital. Their gift to our colony ended up being an assortment of odds and ends, jewelry, trinkets, abandoned weapons and armor, and other items, worth a few thousand pieces of gold.

Fortunately, the kobold arrival to Fort Chomper created a notable distraction and helped reduce unrest by quite a bit. We funded construction of a proper smithy in Olegton as well – every town needs smithing services, especially so far out on the frontier.

There was a very nicely crafted chain shirt, supposedly magically protected, offered on sale in the capital a short while ago. Jadrick was keen on buying it but was outbid by a local merchant.

10 Sarenith

It appears that the local noble family feud, the conflict between the Montanovs and Capultons, is over for the time being. My careful assignment of farmland so that there is no adjoining property between two feuding families and Light's unceasing efforts to ensure every public fight ended with heads busted (not Light's, though) finally cooled the tempers as both sides exhausted their will to fight.

The resulting peace helped the trade pick up a bit and we registered a large increase in tax income, which was both necessary and timely. In addition, a passing adventurer sold a strongly enchanted light mace during his stay in Fort Chomper. He spent a good part of his earnings in town immediately, plus we charged a hefty tax on the sale, so our treasury ended up with two more thousand gold pieces.

Our council pushed strongly for farm expansion in the north-east, wishing to have sufficient land under crops to avoid any food shortage in the coming winter. We reached the southern borders of Brevoy, although in all honesty the exact border is not well defined. This part of Brevoy is largely uninhabitated and the only population is closely linked to the main road passing though Olegton, and turning east from there.

All this increased trade passing through Olegton has helped the kobold dump caretakers and their business has boomed – they requested credit for expanding the dump and we granted it. Summer activity in the forest, especially hunting and trapping, has picked up a bit lately. We instucted our surveyors to start building a road into the forest, primarily with the idea of connecting the moon-radish patch with our colony. I hope the radishes will bring additional income from taxes once they are farmed to their full potential.

26 Sarenith, AR 4711

A grave disaster was nearly averted recently. An urgent messenger from Olegton brought news of citizens coming down with the plague. This alarmed us all greatly and we immediately set out, acting swiftly and decisively. We separated the plague sufferers from the general population, brought in expert healers and herbalists from where they could be found, and purchased potions for healing and strengthening the body.

All victims of the plague had their bodies burned away from the city, and we even had priests bless the homes of the sufferers to prevent the spread of illness. Luckily, our swift action eradicated the plague before it could spread out and cause more harm.

19 Erastus, AR 4711

Summer in the Stolen Lands seems to alternate between hot, calm days and sudden thunderstorms with heavy rain and strong winds. Despite the occasional thunderstorm, crops are doing well and our colony is stable. We have mostly completed our expansion to the north-east and claimed the last bit of farmland close to Olegton for our colonists.

As I have promised earlier, we built a shrine to Calistria in Fort Chomper this month. The shrine is located close to the brothel, and the priestesses will help run the brothel itself and protect the prostitutes from mistreatment. The shrine is proving quite popular with our people – it has had many visitors already. Also, priestesses of Calistria sold an enchanted javelin marked with Calistria's runes in a public auction. Apparently, the proceeds were used to provide better housing for the priestesses and aid for the worshippers.

Trade is doing well and taxes fill our treasury nicely. We will have to rein in our expansion for the time being as we have sufficient farms to feed our entire population and save stores for the winter. With more than 3,000 citizens, our colony is growing into a small independent nation rapidly.

22 Erastus, AR 4711

After more than a year spent administering and governing, our party set out to adventure once again. Amalur colony is safe and prosperous for the time being, so we prepared for another exploratory expedition, with the goal of mapping the lands surrounding Tuskwater lake. Despite situating our capital, Fort Chomper, overlooking the blue waters of the lake, we have hardly explored much past the town limits.

This morning, we left our town and traveled south and east, exploring the hills overlooking the lake. The terrain here tends to be drier than on the northern and western parts of the lake. A few hours ago, we ran into a group of five wolves, led by one particularly large and fierce looking wolf, which we identified as a worg.

As there was little doubt, the wolves attacked and we slew them in a brief battle. Funnily enough, we had as a council offered a 1,200 gold piece reward for capture or destruction of these same wolves as they had been raiding the isolated farmsteads. Now it seems we will pay it out to ourselves! The wolf lair was nearby, where we found one unfortunate victim still in the process of being eaten. From the body we recovered some copper coinage, and afterwards we burned the body as is our custom.

We then camped for the night nearby. Fiona appears keen on skinning the wolves for their pelts; I suppose they might prove valuable if properly preserved. Tomorrow, we continue on with our trek.

The following is the journal related to last 2 game sessions we had (split into two parts). Party is still level 5 and we're building our kingdom.

24 Erastus, AR 4711

As we wished to claim our reward for killing of the vicious warg, we returned to Fort Chomper in the morning after a short trek through the hills. Despite the irony of paying ourselves (to an extent) from our colony's coffers, we took the reward and placed it in our baggage. Next, we decided to explore west, along the coast of the lake.

After a few hours of riding through pleasant clearings and small copses of trees, we reached a relatively wide river – Skunk River. Within the river, there was a wagon hitched by two ponies, with another two wagons on our side of the river. They were all apparently crewed by gnomes. The wagon in the river was in some trouble, though – it was listing to one side and there were panicked cries for help coming from the two gnomes in it. The river current was sweeping the wagon and it was in danger of capsizing or sinking.

We did our best to rescue the wagon. Jadrick tied a rope to Percy, his eidolon, and sent him to the wagon. Percy swam past the river current with ease, reaching the wagon, and the two gnomes grabbed the rope. After tying to rope to the wagon, they gave us a signal and we hitched our end of the rope to our horses, ordering them to pull.

However, the panicking ponies hitched to the wagon in the river were preventing our efforts from being successful, so Fiona jumped into the river, and swam to the wagon itself. She did try to calm the ponies down but they were too frightened and could not be controlled. After a few tense minutes of tug-of-war, the river swept the wagon past our location and down into the lake.

Fortunately, Fiona was able to assist the two gnomes in the wagon to the shore, saving their lives even if we could not save their wagon and their gear. We lost the rope when it snapped, failing to hold the wagon and the ponies against the force of the river; I must make a note to replace it post-haste when we can.

After this harrowing experience, we met the leader of this small gnomish band, one Jubilost Narthropple. They were amicable if somewhat disappointed that we could not save their wagon. Jubilost explained they were a band of gnomish explorers set to map out the Kamelands. However, given that most of their gear was in the wagon that had been lost, they decided to cancel their expedition and return to civilization. I offered Jubilost our current best map of the area to copy, and he was somewhat mollified by my gesture. We discussed our Amalur colony and offered the hospitality of Fort Chomper, less that a day's ride from the location; our gnomish friends decided to take us up on the offer and recuperate in our capital city.

Jubilost mentioned that he will likely remain in Fort Chomper for a while – I should look him up when we return from our current expedition and try to talk to him. I get the sense he's a competent and serious person, and we might have some use for him in our colony after all.

After the gnomes left, trudging back the way they came, we spent the rest of the day exploring the nearby area. We found only pleasant meadows and small streams, but this was by no means an unwelcome conclusion to the day.

26 Erastus, AR 4711

Next morning found us moving along the river to the south and west, following it upstream. The river makes a sharp bend in this terrain. We passed from the rolling hills near Tuskwater lake into a forested region. A bit past noon, we found a deep pool with reeds and lilypads covering most of the water surface.

There were freshly felled trees along the shore of the pool, and tendrils of mist sneaked around us as we approached. Soon enough we spotted a small band of human loggers, as could be guessed by their clothes, their axes, and their gear. They were apparently caught in some kind of a confrontation – two of their members were facing the rest of the band, and there was a girl or a woman of some kind, floating in the pool just offshore and facing the loggers as well.

Both Fiona and myself correctly recognized the girl in the pool as a nixie; a water fae of some note. They are normally considered peaceful, but some tales caution that evil nixies lure people into their pools and drown them there. We approached and listened to part of the arguing between the two parties – loggers led by one man in particular, and two loggers supporting the nixie in the pool. The name of the logger leader was apparently Corax, as we learned from the shouting between him and the two loggers defending the nixie.

As we approached, our druidess noted the slightly twitchy, vacant manner in which two of the loggers who were protecting the nixie behaved – and I realized they were likely under some sort of an enchantment. My best guess were that the nixie had used the charm person enchantment or something similar to bend these two men to her will.

From the yelling we could overhear, the nixie was unhappy with the logging of the trees near the pool, and wanted it to stop, while the loggers obviously wanted to continue. The situation was a standoff; one that could have easily turned to violence. I decided we should intervene and see if we could resolve this without violence.

We approached both parties and slowly, carefully introduced ourselves. I mentioned that we were from the Amalur colony nearby and that this land was part of Amalur's claim – I was exagerrating a bit here but it was for what I judged a good cause. I asked the loggers to produce official evidence of their logging claims here, and of course there was none. They did mention that they logged this wood for Fort Chomper buyers, which stumped me for a bit.

After some haggling, the loggers did agree to relocate their logging to a different area of the forest, to receive our official claim and sanction, as long as the new area had trees of similar or better quality as the couchwoods they've been felling at the pool. The nixie, her name was Melianse, was not fully pleased with simply letting the loggers go. She wanted someone to plant replacements for trees already felled and ensure they would grow into full trees somehow. I exercised a bit of my authority as Prime Minister and personally promised to deliver or grow three replacement trees for the pool, provided that Melianse releases the two charmed loggers from her power.

Melianse agreed, and released the two loggers, after which I paid the logger team 10 gold pieces from my personal funds as recompense for logs at the pool, and they promised to stay nearby, waiting for our word on a better logging area. We consulted between ourselves, and promised to return in a few days at most.

As Fiona recalled some excellent woods, with prime trees for logging to the north, we rode in that direction. Fiona and I spent some time looking for good trees to cut, and eventually we located an untouched grove of elder couchwoods near the old tazztlwyrm den – one on River Shrike that we had cleared out last year. We spent the night near the River Shrike couchwood grove and returned the next day to deliver the location and instructions to the logger band. Mollified by their new logging claim, they left to start their operations.

Returning to the pool with the nixie, Fiona located three couchwood saplings and used her druidic magic to speed up their growth. They did not instantly grow to full size; rather, they would proceed to grow at a swift pace, likely reaching full adult size and girth in a portion of years normally necessary. Melianse the nixie was nearby and while she appreciated the gesture, she still wanted the couchwood trees replaced with full adult ones, so I drew on my knowledge of various arcana to recall a strange magical item – feather token shaped like a tree. One such, when used, creates a fully grown tree instantly. I figured we could purchase or commission three such tokens in Fort Chompers one way or another, so I promised to create those three adult trees in short order.

While we did spend the rest of today exploring the area around Melianse's pool, we found little of interest except truly old couchwood trees. Given that a nixie band joined our colony some months ago, perhaps Melianse can be befriended and persuaded to join our colony more formally, possibly as a guardian of this pool and grove. Some kind of arrangement would be necessary, and perhaps some bribes or sweet-talking, but I am sure I am up for the challenge. I must remember to send porters to transport the three couchwood logs that we had effectively claimed for ourselves when we defused the conflict between Melianse and the loggers.

28 Erastus, AR 4711

For the past two days, we have been traveling and mapping the forest around the river, mostly westwards. Hunting in the area has been somewhat poor and Fiona only found a few berries along the way so we had to make do with wandermeals carried by our mounts. They are not the tastiest of sustenance, but they do keep you going.

Yesterday, during late morning hours, we reached a pond in a clearing holding an enormous oak tree, its roots covering part of the pond's surface. There were leaves on the surface of the pond and we could hear birdsong coming from it. Beneath the tree, we found a crying maiden of great beauty, with pointed ears and unusual greenish coloring to her hair. This time even I recognized the maiden as a forest dryad; Fiona shushed us and went forward to speak with the dryad.

As much as I would have liked to be the one to comfort the obviously distressed forest maid, I agreed that Fiona is far the wiser to deal with such things. I didn't want to inadvertently cause injury either way.

After a short discussion with the dryad, Fiona called us forward and introduced us to the dryad. Apparently her name was Tiressia and she was bound to the great oak tree we had found her under. She was crying because she was afraid of a so-called scythetree, a monster of some repute in the local area. It had been threatening Tiressia's tree (and her life) for a while now and she had nobody to turn to. While I did recall a few tidbits about scythetrees from Fiona's lessons, she knew the monster well by reputation and described it to us.

Scythetrees are apparently a type of a sentient tree. They are slow and huge in size, having great reach and are able to casually rip foes to bits with their powerful branches and thorns, akin to scythes of its name. While the scythetrees are powerful, they are also as vulnerable to fire as most other trees. They are nearly always hostile and selfish, so we granted that there was little chance of making peace with the scythetree, even though it was considered marginally sentient.

There was really no deliberation on our course of action – we of course agreed to help save the dryad and slay the evil tree. Tiressia promised a reward in return and her help in establishing a network of forest contacts by which we would be kept informed of the goings-on in this area of Gnarl Marshes. We took her directions to the scythetree (generally going south, in fact) and took off to confront it.

We did not strike directly for the purported location of the scythetree however; we spent most of that day exploring Tiressia's area. It is a pleasant part of the forest and there are many peaceful forest creatures living there, mostly animals of various kinds. While this would make it a valuable hunting ground, I will suggest that we refrain from hunting here without Tiressia's permission. Tiressia mentioned her satyr companion, Falchos, also lives nearby, but we did not meet him at this time.

Sometime close to dusk, the skies opened up with a brief surge of hail which forced us to seek shelter under several large trees. After hailing for a few minutes, it began to rain and continued to do so for hours. We decided to shelter at the roots of the dryad's tree and she had no objections.

Having spent the night in Tiressia's clearing (with Fiona talking to Tiressia for quite a bit), we located the scythetree this morning. Sitting astride the forest was a huge canopied area, permeated with the sweet stench of decay. There were trees covered with a sticky substance along the perimeter of this clearing, and withered vegetation covering the ground floor and struggling to grow amidst many bones strewn along. The canopy of trees above us blocked much sunlight and cloaked the hollows here in deep shadows.

Far off in the forest, we could see and hear trees moving and swaying from the thunderstorm that had been building since this morning, but here in the clearing, the air was calm. Standing tall in the center of the clearing was the dreaded scythetree itself. It was huge, larger than we thought, and very fearsome-loooking. Branches shaped like scythes swayed gently as it simply stood there. We could not detect any eyes or similar sensory organs, but Fiona knew the tree could sense its surroundings well, albeit not at any great distance.

Gathering our courage, we prepared our spells and weapons and charged the tree. The battle was brief but vicious – we suffered some injuries but none were life-threatening. As usual, Percy took point and fought with the tree itself, one-on-one, while the rest of us pelted it with spells and projectiles. Jeb courageously charged the tree itself, attempting to break it with his staff, but all he gained for his efforts were the most serious injuries we suffered as a group. We did defeat the tree, however, and burned its vile wooden body afterwards.

Nestled in the bones and refuse strewn along the forest floor, we found valuables, likely owned by the tree's previous victims – coins of various kinds, a pretty silver ring, and a strange magical robe, embroidered with many bones. When I examined the robe initially, using my identify dweomer, I thought at first the robe to be the famous magical robe of bones; however, a closer examination revealed a cunning forgery. The robe was in fact an accursed robe of vermin – it was made out to fool the wearer into donning it and cursing themselves in the process. Suffice to say, I was not fooled and we carefully put away the cursed robe, placing aside the decision on what to do with it for later.

Exploration of the surrounding area, to ensure there were no more scythetrees or similar foes, took up a few hours. We had to wait out the thunderstorm that reached us barely a few minutes after we finished burning the scythetree's body, though, so there was no time left today to travel back to Tiressia with good news.

1 Arodus, AR 4711

We traveled back to Tiressia the dryad's tree and delivered the news of scythetree's demise at our hands. She was overjoyed and thanked us, and presented her reward to us: some goodberries, potions of curing, a scroll of summon nature's ally (claimed by Fiona as she is a druid and can use it), a wand of minor curing spells, six feather tree tokens, a masterwork longbow and some arrows, a high-quality sickle, and some gold coins. We ate most of the goodberries immediately, as they cannot keep long and besides, some of us were stil recovering from injuries sustained in the battle with the scythetree.

Of all the gifts Tiressia thanked us with, the feather tree tokens were of immediate interest to me. These tokens can be used to magically plant a fully grown tree in moments, and I remembered my promise to Melianse the nixie to replace trees felled by loggers. I convinced the party to handle this particular task with no delay, so we set out to travel to Melianse's pool. The trip there took about a day and a half, and was mostly uneventful.

Once at Melianse's pool, I used three of the feather tree tokens to grow large, fully grown adult oak trees near the pool itself. The trees sprang into being with amazing speed, growing from a tiny sapling into a full-sized tree in moments. Melianse rose her head from the water to watch, and clapped afterwards. I gave her a brief bow and smiled. She was mollified by our gesture and agreed that I had fullfilled my promise to her. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then we continued with our expedition.

Since then, we've traveled back north through the forest to contine mapping the area east and south of Tiressia's glade. We've just crossed into uncharted territory this morning; I hope the forest here hides more pleasant surprises such as beautiful and kind dryads.

3 Arodus, AR 4711

Sometimes even Fiona has trouble catching or finding enough food to feed all five of us; yesterday was one of those days. Despite relatively clear patch of forest and decent weather, the scraggly hare she trapped in one of her custom noose traps wasn't quite enough for us all and I satisfied myself with one of the wandermeal patties from our reserves.

Breakfast being somewhat disappointing, however, didn't predict the rest of the day. Sometime later, probably around noon or so, we almost literally ran into a white haired old man, dressed in leathers, with a puma following him around. The man looked feral and wild, but he wasn't hostile so we struck up a conversation. The fellow was a bit cagey and refused to give out his name, while chattering on and on, and called his puma simply “cat”. He claimed to be a druid, and wanted to follow us around while we explored, offering his advice and knowledge of the land.

Fiona spoke with the old man briefly in druidic secret language, a conversation which I could not follow, but apparently he knew the talk and satisfied her as to his claims of being a fellow druid. This did not fully allay my suspicions as hardly anyone we've met has been so apparently helpful or wanted to follow us around, but we accepted his offer for the time being.

I did question the old man, calling him “Tom” for the time being, about interesting or dangerous places in the area. He regaled me with a rambling table about a horrible lady, called “Old Beldam”, living somewhere to the southeast. She was apparently some kind of a witch, or a monster, and lived in a bog on the edge of a swamp, eating children (or so Tom claimed). This old woman had an apparent army of murderous scarecrows that killed people regularly. Tom spun another tale about a tree in the west, a harmless tree-like being, that healed people who slept underneath it. The description was vague but the way story developed and Tom's insistence that we visit the tree made me more suspicious, for the tree sounded like the scythetree; and it was far from benevolent.

Despite Tom's rambling chatter, we learned nothing of use from him on that day. Early in the afternoon, it started to rain, opening up with a light drizzle which slowly turned into a complete downpour. We found no interesting locations that day and camped early under some trees, hiding from the rain.

Weather cleared up somewhat today, albeit it remained cloudy and overcast. Yesterday's rain had made the ground soft and soggy, and we had to avoid some deeper streams and ponds here and there as we moved southwest through the forest. We encountered another river flowing here, and “Tom” identified it as the Murque River. During this time, I kept talking to Tom, and he proposed that we visit Tuskwater Lake, as Tom knew a spot there with “interesting people”, who very much wanted to meet us, but were afraid of weapons. So Tom wanted us to leave our weapons behind and meet these people. He also suggested a “perfect camping spot”, insisting that we stop early in the afternoon and camp at a clearing he indicated.

Whereas I am not perhaps the keenest judge of people and their motives at times, I felt that Tom was setting us up for an ambush in a fairly transparent way. His strange, quirky ways, his refusal to give his name, and his changing and inconsistent stories and excuses were downright silly. The rest of the party agreed with me – and we quietly communicated this amongst ourselves using magic. Jadrick was able to cast the message cantrip, allowing us to surreptitiously talk while one of us would keep “Tom” busy rambling on about something or other.

In the end, we agreed to camp at Tom's preferred spot, but to setup a counter ambush, of sorts. Fiona prepared a spell unknown to me so far, a dweomer called campfire wall, which apparently can create a long-lasting fire wall enclosing a small campsite. We lured Tom outside this area and Fiona then invoked the spell. While we meant merely to protect ourselves from his treachery, Tom immediately realized he had been caught, and started yelling and cursing and threatening us. He yelled a lot, and mentioned a number of things. Apparently, he is Bokken's brother, he hates Bokken, he killed his parents (as dreadful as that sounded, we felt he was telling the truth on that matter), and he mentioned that he hated me personally and the rest of the party, after threatening to kill us all the next time we met.

At this point he somehow managed to slip away into the night quietly and we lost all trace of him. We chose to rest in our protected camp site, but we decided to have two people awake and on watch at all times. I hope we do not get attacked tonight; I am tired of these ambushes in the dark.

11 Arodus, AR 4711

Our rest in the so-called “perfect” camping spot, likely an ambush spot of some kind, was not interrupted by man or beast that night, week and a half ago. The following morning, Fiona offered to try and track down “Tom” and we accepted her offer. While the man itself was near impossible to track, his pet puma was apparently not skilled at disguising its trail and Fiona was able to follow it.

The trail led generally north, back to the scythetree clearing, and it took us most of the day to get there. An oppresive heat wave had settled onto the forest, and we were forced to stop a few times to drink and fill our waterskins from one of the many streams crossing the land.

We finally reached the scythetree clearing early in the evening. Darkness was settling down and stars just becoming visible when we saw “Tom” apparently resting underneath the burned-out remains of the scythetree, his puma prowling nearby. Our plan was simple – rush them, knock “Tom” out, and kill or subdue the big cat. The execution of the plan went without any problems – the pair were no match for our combined party, and especially spells from our three spellcasters – Fiona pinned the two foes with her entangle dweomer, I blinded both with glittering magical dust, and Jadrick hasted our fighters. Thusly, Jeb, Light and Percy the eidolon made short work of “Tom” and his puma, killing the cat. We bound up and gagged “Tom” and confiscated his belongings.

Despite his claim to be a druid, we saw no evidence of this as “Tom” never cast any spells or used any druidic powers. Fiona could not explain how he could speak the secret druidic language, but we didn't care enough to resolve that mystery. The old man's armor and whip were magical and of fine quality; the leather armor in particular interested Jadrick. “Tom” also had a shortsword of common make on him and a magical ring of protection. The last bit of loot was immediately claimed by Fiona, and we saw no reason why she could not have it (albeit we did count it against her share of everything we won so far).

Acting on some of the comments “Tom” made in passing while we talked couple of days before, we traveled right back to the area where we had first met him, and searched around. Finally, we spotted a small house or dwelling carved right into a huge oak tree. Judging by Tom's furious reaction, it was his own house that we had located. Inside we found some crude furniture and a few items of interest, mostly found in a stout wooden chest. It contained a minor curing potion, a potion of invisibility, some coin (mostly silver pieces), a tarnished silver locket holding a faded portrait of a young woman, and a rough piece of cloth – faded map of greenbelt that might point towards great treasure. I copied that last bit onto our maps but I noted the treasure was likely another scheme or ambush planned by “Tom” to lure and rob unsuspecting travelers.

For the next several days we made our leisurely way north and east, finally reaching Bokken's hut near Olegton after 3 days of riding. The continuing heat and Tom's presence as our prisoner slowed us down, but we forged on neverthenless. The meeting with Bokken was brief and to the point. He confirmed Tom's identity as his brother, declared he wanted nothing to do with him, and only showed an interest into the tarnished locket we took from Tom's house. It had apparently belonged to Bokken's mother, and Bokken was so grateful to us for giving it to him he offered to brew 900 gold pieces worth of magic potions for us. We accepted, and promised to send a runner with our potion orders soon.

After that, we simply rode back to Fort Chomper and delivered “Tom” to the constabulary there. He was charged with assault, robbery and attempted murder, and promptly sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor in a chain gang (Lily Teskerten acted as judge and Minister of Justice in this case).

However, we had hardly dropped off our treasures and loot at our houses, when the townsfolk asked for help with a couple of terrible killings lately. Being very tired and filthy from the long journey, we deferred our investigation into this matter onto the following morning.

I admit to enjoying a long, slow bath and clearing up the grime from the road the old-fashioned way, with water and soap. While I could have used my magic to handle such mundane task, I allowed myself this luxury; there was no need to rush things and I felt somewhat entitled to a little bit of relaxation. We will investigate these strange and terrible crimes in the morning and I am sure that between all of us we will quickly find the culprit.

12 Arodus, AR 4711

Morning after our trip kept us busy with some boring details of administration over Amalur. We did manage to sell off such armor and weapons left over from our previous adventures, as we needed coin more than most weapons (and they were of little use to us in either case). After a huried lunch, we turned our attention to the pair of murders that had happened on previous two nights, just before our return to Fort Chomper.

According to the townsfolk, there were two brutal attacks, and two people killed, one serving girl working at the brothel, and Bevin the shepherd boy, attacked with his flock on their way back to town, in that order. As Fiona is the closest thing to a medical expert that we have, she examined the bodies of the victims and determined that they had been killed by a large animal, probably a wolf, worg or even a big dog. After our examination, the bodies were sent to the town graveyard for funeral rites and a proper burial.

After that, we examined the two crime scenes. Both victims were attacked outdoors, but not really close to a house or a building. Fiona followed tracks from both locations to a nearby copse of trees. Curiously enough, while there were fairly clear tracks of a wolf or worg entering the copse from both trails, the trails ended there. We speculated that either some effort was taken to erase the tracks, indicating a very smart wolf or a sentient accomplice, or perhaps some form of shapeshifting magic was employed. I mentioned a possibility of a evil druid shapeshifting into a wolf and attacking townsfolk, but Fiona seemed dubious.

Either way, with no more clues to be found at the attack sites, we went around town questioning the townsfolk in general. We asked about anything strange or unusual they could have seen, any suspicious strangers passing through, and anything someone might have seen, perhaps as a witness to the attacks. Sadly, nobody knew anything of interest or if they did, they weren't talking to us.

Given the obvious pattern of one attack each night, we figured odds were good the beast would strike again that night. We sent people to announce an immediate curfew right after dusk, and sent runners to nearby farms to warn people to stay indoors tonight and lock themselves in. Our plan was to set up a bait, some form of an ambush with an obvious target, and wait for the beast to strike. Unfortunately, the bait idea was a wash – there were too many people who ignored our curfew warning and we simply did not have the constabulary or servants enough to enforce it fully. This left a small but significant number of fools wandering around town after nightfall.

We finally decided to split into two patrols, one with myself, Jadrick and Percy, and Jeb, and the second one with Fiona, her pet thylacine and Light, and keep moving around town in hopes of intercepting the beast before it strikes. We were looking around for this beast when Jeb had a notion that was simple and brilliant at the same time. He noticed tonight was the full moon, and wondered if the killer was a werewolf. I will admit I didn't even bother to consider this possibility. Jeb gave us the rundown on local werewolf legends, and cautioned us that the werewolf might not even be aware of its nature, and so we agreed to try to capture rather than kill the beast.

According to Jeb, werewolves are cursed or perhaps afflicted with disease, and can be cured by a powerful cleric casting a spell of disease removal, or, alternatively, with a grim therapy of wolfsbane over a course of a month. Wolfsbane is a poison but if administered properly, it may cure the lycantrophy. Since tonight was the last of the three nights of full moon, it was also likely our last chance to catch the werewolf for a while. We all knew the tidbit about weres being vulnerable to silver, but we had no such weapons or tools with us. I resolved then to have a few silvered weapons made and kept in our stores in case of another werewolf attack.

We started out patrols shortly after dusk. I used my magic to enclose both myself, Jeb and Light with a mage armor dweomer, to help deflect any direct attacks on us. Jadrick and Fiona supplied the light cantrip to light our way. Soon after starting our patrol, we heard sounds of a commotion coming from the waterfront, near the town brothel. We rushed to the scene, finding a big bear of a man, clad in furs, arguing with the brothel owner, a priestess of Calistria.

Strangely enough, the man was not being thrown out for foul behavior or some such – he was trying to leave and the priestess was trying to keep him inside, under terms of our curfew. The man in furs kept yelling that he could not be there, that he would attack somebody, and similar cries. As we approached and tried to resolve the dispute, the man's cries became frantic, and the moon crested the roof of the brothel. The silver moonlight fell upon the man, and suddenly, he screamed and howled, and his form began to shift and stretch.

Within moments, where had once been a tall, muscular man dressed in fine furs, there was a screaming beast, the werewolf! Our shock and surprise were broken when the creature issued a fierce growl and fighting began. However, we recovered from our surprise seemingly faster than the beast, and managed to blind it with spells before it could charge us. After than, we brought the beast down in less than a minute, with only some injuries to Percy, who once again took the brunt of the beast's attack. The beast was fast and strong, it wielded a great axe with some skill, but it started the fight blind and did not truly recover before it was brought down. We held to our plan and did not kill the beast, and after it fell down under our blows, it transformed back into the shape of a man.

We chained and locked the man in a sturdy chamber inside Jadrick's house here in town, and left a few trustworthy guards to keep a watch on the werewolf-man. I feared that there could be more than one werewolf on the prowl, so we spent the rest of the night in constant patrol over town. Close to dawn, the moon set and we trudged back to our homes, going asleep soon after falling into our beds. Apparently, the werewolf we'd captured was the only one, and the town was safe.

The rest of Max's journal for our last game session is below.

Arodus 19, AR 4711

Past week kept us very busy with administrative work. The werewolf affair was resolved to my satisfaction – the werewolf, his name is Kundahl, accepted the cure for his condition, and has been drinking specially prepared concoction of wolfsbane since last week. We absolved him of guilt in the two murders on account of having no control or knowledge of being a werewolf. While under interrogation, Kundahl could not account for how he became a werewolf. He's a woodsman and a guide and has come into contact with wolves on many occasions but there was no incident which indicated he had been infected with lycantrophy.

Deciding to let the matter rest, we moved onto government affairs. Kundahl was grateful enough so that he gifted us with his magically sharp great axe and a potion which renders the imbiber immune to fear. We will likely sell the axe but the potion might come in handy at some point.

The decision to release Kundahl the werewolf was mostly mine; I did not expect a swift and negative reaction from our citizens. The families of the two slain victims demanded justice, concerned citizens wanted us to execute the werewolf, and some were questioning the lack of our justice system and my capricious decisions. While we did try to throw a festival to celebrate the ending of the threat, it wasn't well received and I judged the gesture wasted. In short, the compaints and protests died down but there was quite a bit of leftover resentment and unrest.

One of the complaints I received, as hard as it is to believe, is that I tarnished the colony's honor by dressing and ruling in my worn traveling clothes. Apparently, that was not the correct image the citizens wanted their rulers to project. Even as much as I dislike gaudy displays and pomp, I submitted to this demand and had a proper ministerial suit made. It was unnecessarily heavy, with jewels and precious stones and fine fabrics, and I felt like a monkey wearing it. Still, the citizens approved. While commissioning such a noble suit, I took the opportunity to purchase a few spare outfits for my own use. I admit that using the colony funds for this purpose felt a little shady, but I think nobody will mind much. They did, after all, complain that I was dressed too plainly!

An interesting magical item was offered for sale recently – a magically sharp light crossbow of minor enchantment. Both Jadrick and myself expressed an interest in it, but in the end we both declined as the price was a bit steep and we rarely used such weapons anyway. We made some changes in the makeup of our council – Jhod Kavken stepped down and Fiona replaced him as Minister of Religious Affairs, while Jubilost, the gnome explorer, took over Fiona's post as Minister of Constabulary. Fiona seems in any case better suited for religious affairs, her wisdom running deep for a druidess.

Due to too much work coming up in too short of a time, and due to our lengthy absence for our exploration trip, through most of last month, we failed to properly maintain a few areas of the colony – the small forest area south and west of Olegton, with the fangberry patch, and some farmland southeast of Bokken's hut, mostly cabbage crops. Given the lack of our attention, no taxes were collected, no services rendered, and several key road sections fell apart for lack of maintenance. It is pointless to levy blame when we ourselves are the most guilty – we will have to work to re-integrate those areas into Amalur later.

Construction continued albeit at a lesser pace during our absence – some houses were built in Olegton, and a proper dump constructed in Fort Chomper close to the graveyard. Tax income this month was pretty good despite all the furor related to the werewolf attacks – well over 15,000 gold pieces entered the treasury. All in all, our expedition of exploration was generally a success. I hope we can repeat it sometime soon.

2 Rova, AR 4711

Hoping to spend more time exploring and adventuring is one thing – actually accomplishing it is quite another. I was overly optimistic in my estimate of time needed to handle my duties as Amalur's Prime Minister. For every small thing I manage to resolve, three more issues arise that of course demand my personal attention.

Our entire ruling council agreed we needed to change our method for ruling Amalur, and they all set out to formalize their respective ministries with properly appointed constables, engineers, foremen, clerks, tax collectors, judges, and so on. This left me in a position of handling mostly symbolic issues, and to wit, I designed our Amalurian flag, shield, and seal. For all those, I chose a field of green to symbolize our land in the Greenbelt. For the flag, I added a four-pointed white star in the middle of the flag field, a symbol for us four adventurers who signed the original exploration charter. For the shield and seal, I added a lake below the flag, underneath a hill, with a fort sitting on top, and a rearing stallion in the foreground. The stallion was set to symbolize Chompers, Jadrick's much lamented original mount who perished during our early adventures.

The flag, seal and signet were approved for the time being by the council and I commissioned their crafting from the local craftsmen. I ordered one signet ring for myself, of course, in my official capacity as Prime Minister. The council also temporarily instated Brevoy's laws such as where they
could be applied to us, with the proviso that such laws will be replaced as time permitted.

The arrangements of the council were formalized thusly – the ruling of Amalur is to be conducted by the Council of Ministers. Decisions are to be done on a majority vote basis, with the Prime Minister holding the power of veto over any decision and holding the tie-breaking vote in cases of ties. Council Ministers we decided to appoint by the Council itself, to ensure continuity of government in case of changes. One of the ideas I suggested for later time was the writing of a proper formal constitution as basis for our government, in the style of Andorans. There was some discussion on the post of Deputy Prime Minister; despite my objections the majority decision was to retain the name but to make the post essentially that of Prime Minister's spouse, wife or husband, such as they might have.

A not-so-small hint was directed in my way, that I should be married sooner rather that later, and to proceed with that business. I was midly annoyed by their insistence, so I retaliated by proposing and successfully arguing forth for a set of marriage laws that are by definition open and tolerant; under the guise of respecting all races and cultures, I set the marriage law to allow any arrangement of males and females, of same or different races, numbering two or more, to enter in a marriage contract, depending on the proper cultural tradition they hailed. The wording was intentionally vague and I felt that at some point I might use it to resolve this constant nagging for a spouse to my favor.

In one other matter I argued forcefully – that of equality under law. We agreed on a general principle of law and government that all should be equal in the eyes of the law. How we will conduct this principle in practice, remains to be seen.

Our party decided today to take a small break from our Amalurian duties to conduct a little more exploration and perhaps tie up some loose ends. Light declined to accompany us, citing much leftover work in the colony. Thus, Fiona, Jadrick, Jeb and myself will set out tomorrow, on our trusty mounts.

6 Rova, AR 4711

This current exploratory expedition lasted only four days before our return to Fort Chomper. On the first day, we traveled west, to the couchwood grove and pond, where Melianse the nixie resides. Our vague goal was to befriend the nixie and possibly discuss her fellow nixies' joining our colony.

We found her in decent spirits, and engaged her in conversation. I did most of the talking, just like the first time we met. I indicated that her people, nixies, needed someone to represent their interests in the colony; and that having a nixie as part of Amalur's ruling council will put them in a position to more effectively protect both her pool and grove and other ones in the area Amalur controls.

I spoke in general about resolving disputes with our neighbors, and how many fey had trouble talking to humans and humanoid races. As nixies are fey themselves, having a nixie handle such discussions might be to all our benefit. Reminding her of my success in resolving her dispute with the band of loggers, I realized that I was in fact, pitching to her the position of one of our ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

I also offered the remaining three feather tokens that magically create trees, explained their origin and purpose, and Melianse happily accepted them as a gift. Once I mentioned we knew Tiressia, who is apparently also Melianse's friend, this improved her mood considerably. We also chatted about her knowledge of nature and how I wanted to learn a bit from her, and Fiona showed some interest as well. In the end, Melianse wanted to visit Tiressia and we agreed to accompany her there.

The next day, we crossed the forest and river to reach Tiressia's grove. Melianse reached the grove by swimming before we did, and it was apparent that she had been in deep discussion with Tiressia before we arrived. We also met Tiressia's satyr lover, who was friendly but laid back and didn't talk much. In the discussion that followed, Tiressia was very much in favor of us and Amalur, and displayed her Amalur pin with my seal design! I was surprised, but apparently my instructions to create and distribute our seals where needed were followed faster than I had imagined.

Somehow, Fiona let it slip that I was Amalur's Prime Minister, and this apparently concluded the deal; Melianse expressed an interest in joining Amalur, I accepted her offer, and named her the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She's to replace Svetlana, who had long ago asked to be replaced at first opportunity, and who at any rate was busy tending to her young child. I was somewhat surprised by Melianse going to her knees and asking me to accept her service, but I managed at least not to embarrass myself and Amalur too much. After that, the rest of the day passed in pleasantries and discussions on what Tiressia had learned from her forest friends so far, news and such.

The three females (our Fiona, Tiressia and Melianse) left at some point for some so-called “girl talk”, by which I presume they mean plotting against all males present, and spent quite some time giggling and in discussion which I didn't care to overhear. The satyr proved a generous host and shared some excellent mead with us, so the remainder of the afternoon went by quickly.

On the third day, we decided to tie up one long-standing loose end. We took most of the day to travel north, to the ruins housing one boggart and his pet slurk. Once there, I used my potion of comprehending languages and Jadrick helped the boggart understand that he was to drink the second such potion – after that initial confusion we managed to communicate just fine.

Without the language barrier, we learned that boggart's name was Garuum, his pet slurk was Ubagub, and that he considered the ruins his “kingdom”. We negotiated and talked, and I convinced Garuum to stop eating other people and to spy on anyone passing through the area, in exchange for protection and regular shipments of food (he apparently likes boar meat a lot). Fiona helped hunt down a small boar that day which we shared with Garuum – such a gesture proved helpful in establishing our good intentions. We also promised to send people to repair the ruin into a serviceable house for Garuum, and to establish contact by means of our kobold Minister, Chief Soothscale.

The agreement in the end took a while to negoatiate, but I was happy that we'd resolved the mystery of the boggart and removed one potential threat to our colony while extending our information gathering network just a bit more. Honestly, I felt a bit proud with myself – we'd managed to resolve most issues that had come up in the past few months without violence, proving that my commitment to peace and dialogue was in fact meaningful.

We spent the night peacefully camped out near Garuum's ruin. He told some stories of his home tribe, which had apparently exiled him for reasons that were unclear to us, and we in turn told stories about ourselves and Amalur. The next morning we rode back to Fort Chomper, and arrived shortly before nightfall to a sleepy late summer evening. For me, the interlude was welcome as now we go back to the business of ruling, for which I hold little enthusiasm.

18 Rova, AR 4711

Harvest this year is proving fairly abundant – pleasant and warm weather with sufficient rain helped most crops grow fully and well. The planting was done in time, and now we enjoyed the results. A lot of the remaining complainers about our solution to the werewolf attacks last month were too busy with harvest to complain any more, and at any rate the cure for Kundahl the ex-werewolf was a success – full moon came and went and there were no attacks or transformations reported.

I purchased a few interesting magical items that were offered for sale in Fort Chomper – one potion which claimed to allow the imbiber to see in the dark, as well as a dwarf, and a scroll with the spell of underwater breathing on it. I judged both to be useful and paid for them out of my own coin.

Our administration succeded in reclaiming the two areas we had abandoned last month at minimum cost and effort, so our previous boundaries were restored. We resolved not to allow such missteps in the future; it remains to be seen if we will be able to honor our pledge. That being said, both the citizenry and our party celebrated the opening of the first brewery in Fort Chomper last week. The very first beer made in our colony, from grain harvested on our farms, proved to be a roaring success; it drew many travelers and traders to Amalur.

In addition, Melianse's inspired leadership helped our nixie tribe expand Amalur's trade network across the local rivers and lakes, trading with their distant cousins and bringing hundreds of gold coins in trade tax receipts to our state coffers. Melianse appears to be settling well with her people; she is, to my chargrin, even better with people that I am myself. I could learn a thing or two from her, and I aim to do so once opportunity arises.

10 Lamashan, AR 4711

As we moved into the cooler fall weather and worked to complete this year's harvest, the summer hubbub began to die down a little and I thought we were done with the excitement for the year. I was proven wrong yesterday; an assassin made an attempt on the life of Kesten Garess, our warden and minister on the council. The male assassin, apparently a River Kingdoms man by name of Serdan, tried to stab Kesten in the chest during one of Kesten's patrols in Olegton. Kesten defended himself, the rest of his patrol came to his aid, and the assassin was captured alive.

Despite Kesten's skilled interrogation, Serdan, the assassin, stubbornly refused to talk or explain his attack. After a very brief trial, he was sentenced to death and hanged publicly today in our capital. The mystery of the attack itself will have to remain unsolved for the moment. However, I still have misgivings about Kesten's posting to the Council and will have to conduct my own investigation at some point. There's just something about him that I don't trust; it may be an instinct of mine that I cannot explain.

Most of our tax receipts from the fall harvest had already been gathered in the past month; so our state income was very limited this month. Per the advice of our Minister of Finance, we're limiting spending for the time being and saving coin for larger construction projects later in the year. Personally, I've managed to spend some time away from my duties as Prime Minister, studying books on politics, nobles and our neighboring realms. The information is sure to come in handy sooner or later.

24 Neth, AR 4711

Entire month of Neth has passed without events of note. The weather was relatively calm; last few late crops of the year were gathered and stored in granaries. A passing gnomish caravan bound for Restov did cause a bit of a stir – we made very good coin in various import and export duties on the goods they traded in, but even that excitement calmed down after the gnomes departed.

I have been reading the available books on the subject of ruling kingdoms and nations; descriptions of various forms of rule and how they are organized. The sheer variety is astonishing and my ignorance vast. Once again, I bemoan the lack of a proper library, school, scholar's quarter or in fact any academic facility here in Amalur. That is not to say Brevoy is a land of scholars, steeped in lore; it is a frontier, somewhat backward kingdom in most eyes. But still, answers that must be eked with frustration and uncertainty here would likely be found in hours or even minutes in one of Brevoy's larger cities.

I will endeavor to argue for state funding for a library or school of some sort; whether magically oriented or not. We will need to foster learning and lore if our colony is to grow and prosper. We also need to encourage magic users to settle in Amalur; if for nothing else, then to improve the rather abysmal selection of magical wares usually up for sale hereabouts. Why, in the past month we had a scroll of barkskin and a goodberry potion offered for sale by a passing druid – as if Fiona herself could not do much better with her spells every day of the week. Suffice to say, we proved uninterested even if some poor soul did buy the goodberry potion eventually.

13 Kuthona, AR 4711

Feather-like snow, soft and deep, has covered the land. Weather is cold but tolerably so; in the mornings the sun reflects from endless fields of white around Fort Chomper so brilliantly as to cause blindness in those who do not shield their eyes. It reminds me of Amdahl; the home of my family is high in the hills and snows like this are not rare there.

Our treasury continues to fill now that we've suspended most outlays and the council debates on how to spend the coin. Recently, we've come to a tentative agreement that a small tower as a enclave of mages, a caster's tower so to speak, should be funded in Olegton. The location of the tower is a nod to the Levetons and their hard work in helping Amalur grow; we hope to reward their efforts with the building of such a significant structure.

While browsing through the selection of potions, herbs and poultices at the herbalist's shop in Fort Chomper today, I saw someone purchase a potion of resistance; a minor cantrip that is scarcely worth masterning, much less putting in a potion or purchasing for that matter. I guess that being surprised at the ignorance of others is pointless; I should know better by now. There is no shortage of fools in Golarion, and one is unlikely to develop.

4 Abadius, AR 4712

Despite the heavy snows and overcast skies, we've started clearing the ground for another city district in our capital – the original city district, while not completely covered in buildings, is getting a bit crowded for my taste. The funds were approved just yesterday for a caster's tower (to be built in Olegton), something I have long argued for. I would have guessed the council was still a little hungover from the New Year's celebration a few days previous but the decision was near anonymous anyway.

Messengers had already gone out, asking for wizards, mages, sorcerers and the like to join our colony and inhabit the caster's tower at their earliest convenience. We've offered tax benefits, good coin and long-term security and pro-magic laws to entice them to move to Amalur.

Even with the winter snows, some trade contines to trickle in by the northern road, and our brewery is doing brisk business selling ale. Our tax receipts continue to be higher than expected and the colony is calm and peaceful. I hope this is a sign that peace will continue for the foreseeable future.

17 Abadius, AR 4712

Gnomes! Desna-forsaken gnomes! I wish I could simply strangle Jubilost and Jadrick both! Those accursed fools have caused us more trouble than I could have believed possible. It all started a few weeks ago, when they held some gnomish contest or the like; I do not understand the details as it is a gnomish thing where outsiders are not wanted, you see. Whether they competed for leadership, power, prestige, or some gnomish quality I cannot grasp, Jubilost and Jadrick faced each other and apparently both claimed to have won the contest. After neither succeeded to convince their fellow gnomes of their victory, they both turned to rallying their supporters to their respective causes.

Over the past two weeks, I've been hearing scattered reports on how their confrontations were getting more and more vitriolic and more public. Both stopped attending council meetings when the other was present, and sent deputies instead. They've started voting against each other's proposals in the council, even when the issue was so trivial as to not be in any doubt.

By now, their petty and childish conflict has escalated into a full-scale feud. Both are proud, competent and very cunning public speakers – they can sway others to their side with only a short conversation. Neither is willing to admit fault or loss or for that matter willing to discuss the matter at all, other than to claim the other is to publicly admit the loss in their gnomish game, whatever it was!

While this sort of thing would have been amusing to me a few years earlier, the divisive nature of this feud has already started to cause fights and injuries as supporters of one gnome fight the supporters of the other. I am starting to suspect some form of madness has taken over Amalur, for even stodgy and solid folks are starting to take sides in a conflict nobody can explain or truly understand, save possibly the two gnomes leading it.

The most infuriating thing is that I cannot simply resolve this by fiat; Jadrick is a comrade of mine and a powerful summoner, while Jubilost is very popular with the smallfolk and any censure I might draw upon him would likely cause riots. I've already tried to arrange for these two fools to meet and for myself to mediate but they've both rejected my help categorically. At this point I hope they will simply run out of steam soon and cease behaving like lunatics.

10 Calistril, AR 4712

Winter frosts, apparently, are no obstacle to gnomish and general stupidity. The Jubilost-Jadrick feud continues to grow. We've had several people killed in fights between their supporters in the last week alone, and both have been holding public speeches denouncing the other recently. The furor shows no signs of dying out, despite Light's unceasing efforts to break heads, calm down riots and disperse angry irrational crowds by beating them into submission.

The council is ineffective at calming things down, so I've issued such commands as I could that our government is to focus on restoring public order. Our two feuding gnomes still refuse to speak to each other so most of the work fixing this mess will be done by others, including myself. I've also authorized funds for expansion of housing for newly arrived colonists, as well as commissioning a statue and a monument in Olegton. In a flash of inspiration, I've instructed the masons to create a statue showing two gnomes fighting, and to make their likenesses be of Jubilost and Jadrick. Perhaps the gesture will help their supporters take them a little less seriously; we will have to wait and see.

26 Calistril, AR 4712

The gnomish feud is apparently over, or at least my two ministers have declared it so. Jubilost and Jadrick made a public speech jointly yesterday, and pronounced Jubilost the winner of their fight, and blamed some unnamed third gnome for causing the issue in the first place. The announcement was met with some relief from most of Amalur's citizens, although I expect some of their die-hard supporters to continue to cause trouble even so. Some folks just need a solid morningstar blow to their stupid heads to learn – their skulls are simply that thick.

Of course, one significant consequence of this idiotic feud is that we've drawn practically no income for this month into the colony treasury. Most of the tax receipts were reduced as craftsmen and citizens alike wasted time in fighting in the streets rather than crafting, working and making things. While both Jadrick and Jubilost declared their feud over to me in person as well, neither was willing to tell me about the real issue; gnomes apparently have this code of silence when it comes to some specific gnomish secrets and this would be one of them.

I was this close, Desna help me, to sacking both of them and exiling them from Amalur. I would have been well within my right to do so, unrest and popularity be damned. When asked if I could get any guaranties they would not again cause such a ruckus, neither was willing to meet my eyes and confirm so to me. I chose the path of mercy and tolerance this time around. There better not be another time.

One other outcome of the end of of gnomish feud was that apparently, Jubilost's entire gnome tribe had moved to Amalur and joined our nation. They arrived laden with trade goods and brought a lavish gift to our state treasury as a bribe, more or less, to help speed up their citizenship process. While the size of the gift does not quite match our regular monthly tax receipts, which we had lost due to the feud, it goes a long way to making up the difference.

Since the housing program expansion was judged a success at calming down the more cantankerous segments of our population, and since the “Two Gnomes Fighting” monument proved popular in Olegton, we repeated such construction in Fort Chomper's new city district, housing our new gnomish population there. I have yet to approve the design for the new monument, but I suspect we need to draw attention away from last month's events and toward the future. Perhaps a sculpture devoted to one of the gods would do the trick; I wonder which one would be most suited. Shelyn or Desna come to mind.

The news from the caster's tower was a welcome relief fron the endless gnomish drama. Our new mage citizens have been hard at work these past several weeks and have crafted or traded in a number of interesting and valuable magical items. Two items stand out – a great flail, heavily enchanted for sharpness and bearing permanent magical flames on it, and a staff of fire. The flail was actually a comission for church of Abad from Restov and we gained quite some coin from taxes related to its sale. The staff of fire remains available for sale; I am contemplating entering the ongoing bidding for it as it seems very useful.

11 Pharast, AR 4712

Ongoing unrest continues to be the main issue in Amalur. Light is kept busy breaking up fights and we keep funding houses, statues, monuments and the like to try and please the population. The lingering winter snows do not help at all; but at least the weather is improving as of last week.

One issue that has come up is the inability to tax our citizens properly since we don't really know who they all are. This is a very valid concern – we are planning on conducting some kind of a proper population census at some time in the near future. We've been having immigrants joining in groups or singly without the Council having any notion of who they were, where they were settling, and most importantly, how much they owed the treasury in taxes.

The caster's tower magic enclave offered a minorly enchanted wooden shield for sale this month; Fiona seems to show some interest in it. I've asked the mages to hold it up for a little while as she needs time to make up her mind.

20 Gozran, AR 4712

Genuine peace and public order has finally been restored to Amalur. Our continuing housing construction program has concluded this week, and we also built a park in Olegton. Various minor measures as well as Light's work paid off and the last few holdouts of public malcontents have been dealt with.

This has allowed Chief Soothscale and myself to return our focus to improving the state of the colony's economy, which in turn led to improved tax receipts, counted at over 14,000 gold pieces in month of Gozran so far. Improving economic outlook has helped the caster's tower sell off another very valuable item, a commission for a heavily enchanted defensive morningstar, one with a special ability to destroy undead creatures at the merest touch. This was another successful work done on behalf of the church of Abad in Restov. I even heard the same church purchased a potion that allows one to hide from the undead, probably related to the purchase of the morningstar.

Two such powerful magical weapons commissioned in a short time leads me to believe the Abadians in Restov might be facing some kind of a problem with the undead; I might have to instruct Chief Soothscale to try and get some information about it. We've long feared a necromancer operating out of Greenbelt but we've never been able to confirm the rumors and scattered signs. It never hurts to be cautious, however.

25 Gozran, AR 4712

Council meeting this morning held a very pleasant surprise for me; apparently the rest of my ministers has discussed things and decided that our capital city should be renamed Dreidendorf, in my family's honor. The vote was unanymous – I abstained of course, but otherwise I was very pleased. Since our capital has grown a bit, we decided to name each city district separately, and so the original first distict will continue to be called Fort Chomper, while the newly built district will be referred to as Newton.

We furthermore discussed our future naming practices, and agreed in general to favor our founders and important personages with naming cities, districts, rivers, lakes and so on in their honor where such is applicable. The practice should help cement the loyalty of our citizens, something we need to work on.

15 Desnus, AR 4712

Spring is in full bloom and most of the spring planting has already been done. Amalur is peaceful and prosperous, which is very fortunate, as we will celebrate 2 years of Amalur's founding in exactly two weeks' time.

Our casters have been busy with crafting more items, and finished yet another significant commission, again for the church of Abad in Restov, this month. The item in question is a enchanted heavy steel shield, covered with dweomers which allow it to be used against incorporeal entities such as ghosts. The timing of the item and its general theme are in agreement with others Amalur's mages have made for Abadians in recent months – they are all somehow related to the undead and are both offensive and defensive in nature.

Chief Soothscale's investigation into this curious matter has not yielded results yet; Amalur has no agents in Restov and rumors coming out of that city by way of travelers and merchants are not particularly reliable. I am considering simply sending a messenger to church of Abad and inquiring about it as well as offering aid; this gesture could be viewed favorably and we could use them as allies.

While the rest of Amalur prepares for the founding anniversary celebrations, I have been very busy with my work on perhaps the most important document related to our colony to date: Amalur's written, formal constitution! I have taken inspiration from the works of various poets and philosophers of note, and I fully support the notion that rulers rule with the consent of the governed; that is, the population of a country enters into a kind of a compact or agreement with their rulers, to guide, rule and represent such their interests as can be voiced and expressed. This compact is rarely formalized and written (with some notable exceptions such as the Andorans) but it exists never-the-less. No nation, small or large, could exist without the implied consent and agreement of its populus to obey its laws, rules and customs. Thusly, all rulers rule at the sufferance of their subjects (to a greater or lesser degree, to be sure).

It is my wish and decision to formalize the relationship between citizens of Amalur on the one hand and its rulers, including myself and the rest of the Council of Ministers. The constitution I've written is the expression of our current state of affairs, and clearly states the basis and the means upon which the administration of Amalur will be conducted. The Council intends to unveil and read the constitution publicly at the annivesary, at which time it will be signed by all the ministers, representatives of all our 15 districts, and spokespersons for our non-human communities (kobolds, gnomes, nixies, fae, and others). We are inviting ambassadors from neighboring lands as well – we've so far invited Brevoy, Galt, Mendev, even the far-off Andor, and most of the River Kingdoms nations to send representatives as well.

We also have plans for continued expansion of our two cities now that our income has stabilized. There are a number of civic buildings which are desirable and now within our means to construct, such as city halls, churches, arenas, academies, libraries, and so on. There is also the matter of the outstanding 100,000 gold coin debt to Brevoy which we hope to repay sooner rather than later. All in all, things are going well for a change and I am looking forward to our upcoming celebrations.

Amalur's flag and shield designs, for those who are interested:

http://miodraglulic.com/files/kingmaker/Amalur%20Flag.png
http://miodraglulic.com/files/kingmaker/Amalur%20Shield.png

Game journal from our last session, played on July 28th 2012.

30 Desnus, AR 4712

I am still somewhat hungover from last night's celebration. As planned, our 2nd founding anniversary celebration went off without a hitch yesterday. In addition to a day-long festival, we held speeches, fireworks, the official signing and reading of our constitution, and finished the day off with a marvelous feast and dance. Simultaneous celebrations were held in Olegton and Dreidendorf both; our citizens traveled from farms and homesteads across Amalur to witness and participate.

For me, the high point of these festivities were the reading and signing of the constitution itself. I admit to feeling very proud upon reading – we staggered the reading into sections, with different Ministers and district representatives each reading a part. I opened and concluded the reading, to great applause and approval of our people. The various ambassadors from our neighboring nations witnessed the signing and added their signets to add to the formality of the event. The final signed copies of the constitution will be preserved for future reference; for now the real work of government can truly begin.

The rest of the day and night went by in a blur – I ate, drank, made merry and danced quite a bit after the feast. We received many congratulations and well-wishes from all present, and we exchanged small gifts with many prominent citizens. I announced the commissioning of the Round Table, made from three massive elder couchwood logs, where the Council will sit in session. The table is to be round to symbolize the equality and unity of our citizens, with no head or tail. I honestly cannot recall going to bed; most all events past midnight are impossible to remember.

Today is a new day, a different day. I have hope. Future is bright, and that is all we need.

4 Sarenith, AR 4712

Accursed shock lizards! I still feel dizzy, my limbs occasionally twitching out of my control. The events which led to my brush with death today were innocuous enough upon recollection. Two days ago, we were still recovering from founding anniversary celebrations, when we received visitors. Our guests were Roy and Trisha Resben, colonists and pioneers asking our aid to establish their planned village in the Gnarl Marshes. Their village is to be founded at the ford in Skunk River; however, the appearance of the pair of tazztlwyrms has foiled their plans. We agreed to investigate and end the threat of the beasts.

We set out in western direction from Dreidendorf in good order, staying on our side of the Shrike River. A hailstorm mid-day forced us to stop and wait it out for a few hours, but it was only a minor impediment to our progress. On our way to the ford in the Skunk River, we passed through the area where Bokken's crazy brother had his tree dwelling and so we spent some time exploring it. We found nothing of interest except more forest. Earlier today, we crossed a ford going west, moving deeper into the Marshes. The forest is denser here and the undergrowth harder to traverse.

Just past noon, judging by the sun, we were ambushed by about half dozen shock lizards, descending upon us from all directions at once. The foul animals used some manner of magic to unleash a powerful lightning bolt all on all of us at once, and I was knocked unconscious after the second strike. The party won the fight against the lizards without my aid, but we paid a heavy price – three of our horses were killed, including Sammy, my own mount. Fiona's pet wolf was severely injured and barely survived, and none of us escaped without major injuries.

To add insult to the injury, the lizards themselves aren't even worth skinning; they were severely mauled by Percy, Jadrick's eidolon, and they aren't particularly edible to boot. The danger these strange lizards pose to travelers cannot be overstated – even a single one can be deadly to unprepared folks, while a small group can take out even experienced adventurers. We will need to devote some time and effort to clear them out of the Gnarl Marshes at first opportunity.

That being said, I will rest now. We plan to head back to Dreidendorf and obtain new mounts. We will also need healing; I can barely limp along even after Fiona used her druidic powers to heal me. I can only hope we don't run into these wretched beasts again. There must be a way to protect ourselves from such attacks, perhaps some elemental protection spell; I will have to study this problem in more detail later.

10 Sarenith, AR 4712

It took us the better part of two days to trudge back to Dreidendorf with only two mounts, and we spent some time getting replacements. Jadrick elected to purchase a warpony instead of a proper horse, and I had to purchase a replacement horse for Jeb, as his purse was nearly empty. After saddling our new mounts, we set out once again, exploring into the west.

For the next couple of days, we traveled through forest and marshland, exploring as we went along. The land here is changing gradually from a high forest into a marshland and the vegetation changes as we move west. Willows and birches replace oaks and firs, and undergrowth grows denser and lower to the ground. Forest clearings are replaced by lily-covered pools, and paths are harder to find and more treacherous to tread. I suspect colonizing this area will prove difficult as the marshes prove a natural barrier to our expansion in this direction.

Yesterday, we followed the Murque River upstream to the area where it originates. Moving south, we discovered an abandoned keep this morning. Fiona was the one who stumbled onto a ruined circular stone keep hiding in the forest. The keep is surrounded on all sides by ancient trees covered with moss. There are four circular towers, one crumbled into rubble, surrounding a central structure and connected by a stone wall. Twisting vines and moss cover the walls, blending the ruins into the surrounding area, so it was almost by sheer luck that Fiona stumbled onto this place.

We found the remains of a path leading to an open arched gateway in the keep's eastern wall. The doors to the keep proper were rotted away, but our way was still barred by a rusty portcullis. Deciding to explore this ruin, we chose caution and prepared properly, casting such spells and enchantments to provide us with magical protection, and arranging for magical lights to show us the way. Percy and Jeb were elected to lead the way, so they tried to lift the portcullis in the gateway. After some grunting, they managed to lift it a bit, but then it collapsed on both of them.

Jeb was wary enough and rolled forward, avoiding the jagged metal, but poor Percy was pinned down by the portcullis. We all pitched our shoulders in and tried to lift the metal from Percy's back, but it proved too heavy for our best efforts. Fiona, however, used a spell to shape the stone around the hinges holding the portcullis aside, and with a mighty crash, it collapsed inward into the keep, freeing Percy. Percy was injured a bit more in the collapse, but Fiona healed him with magic.

Once inside the keep proper, we discovered a graceful tower rising from the central courtyard, overgrown with trees, bushes and undergrowth. The central tower was draped with vines and creepers, and many small plants had taken residence in ledges and cracks along the keep's side walls. Looking over the place, Jeb mentioned that this is probably a long abandoned elven tower, which we could confirm by various elven motifs along the walls.

We decided to explore the southern towers first. The way into the nearest tower was closed by a wooden door of obviously newer construction than the tower itself. Jeb opened the door without difficulty and peered inside. The inside of the tower had been cleared of rubble, the leaves above providing a roof of sorts. The space was made into a room or a living space, with crude wooden furniture and bloody scalps nailed to the walls. A blur of greenish tint sped past Jeb and out of the tower, moving so fast we couldn't follow it with our eyes. Alert to danger, we spread out around the inner courtyard and tried to find the green thing.

As we moved around in the courtyard, I was struck by the same speeding green blur, as it slashed at my ribs and disappeared around the corner. I responded by casting a spell of protection against evil, hoping it would deflect the creature's attacks. I did get a little bit of a look at it while it zoomed past me – it was a quickling, an evil fae that moves with unnatural speed and uses it against its foes. It is also capable of turning invisible as soon as it stops moving, and has a potent poison – the effects of which I could already feel, as I was getting dizzy and feeling weaker by the moment.

While I was being attacked by the quickling, Jeb had run into an assassin vine hidden around the north tower, and was battling it with Percy's aid. Whereas Fiona came to my aid, the quickling proved quite elusive, but it failed to hurt me now that my spell protected me from its evil ways. Jeb and Percy defeated the assassin vine (an evil, animated plant creature, as judging by its ominous name) and Jeb entered the tower behind the vine. The inside of the north tower was collapsed as well, covered in vines and human remains, mostly skulls. Jeb was attacked by another monster in there, a grim stalker of some kind.

Fiona and myself chased the now fleeing quickling outside the keep walls, pelting it with magic missiles and storm bursts, and moving much faster than normally thanks to Jadrick's haste dweomer. However, despite our best efforts, we never caught up with the amazingly fast creature and it fled into the surrounding forest. We returned to the keep courtyard only to catch the end of Jeb's battle with the grim stalker – Percy finally caught up with it and slew it with a few well-placed bites.

Fiona healed most of the party's injuries, and we searched the remaining two outer towers. While searching the second northern tower, Jeb was attacked by two swarms of hostile rats. The rats didn't make for a difficult fight – magic finished them off quickly, assisted by Percy's mighty bites and Jeb's stomps.

The second southern tower was not particularly interesting – we kicked the door in, only to notice the tower collapsed in on itself. The tiling inside was nice, with nature and elven murals, and frescoes, now damaged by time. We then decided to explore the central tower, which was the best preserved of all. Inside, it had a staircase going up. As we started to walk the stairs, a strange mist appeared and filled the area.

Percy and Fiona's pet wolf appeared very confused for some reason, and wandered around the stairs a bit. The rest of us climbed onward and reached a circular room on top of the tower. The room had wide windows all around, showing a panoramic view of the area, and a big skylight in the ceiling. The walls were carved with nature scenes done in gold and silver leaf, while bushes and plants grew from the central area of the floor, forming a garden of sorts. Funnily enough, the windows of the tower were not in fact visible from the outside.

It was only after catching our breath that we noticed a beautiful elven woman standing in the middle of the room. She had alabaster skin, green eyes reminding me of the flowers around her, and wore a dress in a very old-fashioned style. I heard her invite us to join her in common language, and we approached. She called out her name, the Dancing Lady, and said she ruled over the forest and kept it safe and calm. Then, seemingly without reason, the Dancing Lady started to dance. I remember being mesmerized by her movements; she was amazingly gracious and elegant, and the dance called to me somehow. I longed to touch her, to watch and simply enjoy.

As if from a distance, I heard the sounds of battle, but I could not concentrate on anything save the beautiful woman dancing in front of my eyes. I realize now that the fae creature had enthralled me with her dancing. Fortunately, Jeb and Fiona were not affected, and between Jeb's masterful use of his quarterstaff and vicious kicking, and Fiona's summoned animals, the fae woman was quickly defeated. As she was dying, she uttered a horrible curse of some kind, and pointed her hand at Jeb. Jeb's skin turned an ashen kind of color, and he slumped down, even as the creature was killed.

Now that the evil woman was dead, we could properly identify her race as a baobhan sith. Unrepentantly evil, this kind of faerie creature uses her dance to enthrall her victims and drain their blood. Her dying curse had weakened Jeb considerably, but it didn't seem to be immediately deadly, so we decided to return to Dreidendorf to seek help for poor Jeb.

Now that the keep had been cleared of all hostile occupants, we searched every nook and cranny for possible treasure. And we found quite a bit; the dancing elf-like faerie woman had appointed her room on top of the central tower with a number of valuable possessions. There was an alabaster statue of a nude elven woman, life sized, an ancient filigreed elven water clock, a masterwork harp, snow white bear skin coverlets on her bed, a finely carved wooden wardrobe with several noble and royal outfits, a gem-studded tiara, and a magical elixir of love. In addition, she had a considerable quantity of gold and silver coin hidden away in leather sacks.

We found more evidence of her grisly nature – clothes stained with blood, obviously taken from her victim's bodies. I was pretty glad some of our party could resist her deadly enchanting dance or else it would have been our clothes found by some future heroes stashed in the fiend's closet.

As we searched downstairs, in one of the northern towers, we found more useful items, among them a remarkably well preserved mithril statue of elf woman bearing archaic robes, framed by archway of mithril branches. This smaller statue seemed like a elf-related item Lily Teskerten might enjoy; she had mentioned her desire to obtain fine elven items before and I thought this would be a good example of that. We also found more treasure hidden away in the quickling's tower, including more coin and a dozen sparkling gemstones. The northern tower formerly protected by the assassin vine yielded a hidden chest, which stumped us for a few minutes as it was locked, but Fiona used her druid-craft to twist to wood shaping the chest until it snapped open, saving us the trouble of bashing it to pieces.

The hidden chest contained some more valuables, such as a fine cloak, a silver ring set with an emerald, a bejeweled masterwork shortsword, a sizable moonstone, and some more coin. All in all, the monsters inhabiting this tower had quite a stash of loot and treasure, and now we were faced with a significant problem – some of the items were too large to be easily carried or carted back to civilization.

After considering a number of options, finally we used a block and tackle Jeb carried with him to lower the alabaster statue and ancient elven water clock through the windows of the tower, down to the ground. I admit to fearing damage to the statue especially, but with some careful maneuvering and much grunt work, we lowered the heavy items safely to the ground. Fiona cast an ant-haul spell on one of our horses, tripling the amount of weight it could carry, and promised to keep casting the spell as necessary until we returned to Amalur. In the end, we did decide to leave the heavy alabaster statue in the keep itself and return for it with a proper cart later.

Securing the treasure was hard work and we rested a bit afterwards. In the afternoon, we spent a few hours searching the area around the keep but found nothing more of interest. Of the escaped quickling, there was no trace. We assumed it had fled and could not find any tracks to follow. Eventualy we decided to camp in the ruined keep for the night as it was very defensible and to head back tomorrow. Jeb's curse proved impossible to overcome with Fiona's curing magic – we will need to find some way to get rid of it once we return.

16 Sarenith, AR 4712

The apparently simple task of carrying our looted treasure from the ruined elven keep back to Dreidendorf and coming out once again with a proper cart to carry the alabaster elven statue proved fairly arduous. First, it took us almost 3 days to return, as on the morning after we found the ruined keep, the weather turned atrocious and a heavy thunderstorm with high winds kept us from moving until late in the day. We were bored for about six hours, waiting for the rain and the storm to abate, and during this time Fiona and myself kept examining the ruined keep and its towers. Fiona was so taken by the keep and especially the elven nature of the ruins that she decided to claim the keep for herself! We argued good-naturedly about this, but in the end decided that until we could extend Amalur's borders this far into the west, any motion of claiming the keep one way or another had to be tabled.

After the storm, the trip back to Dreidendorf was simply a matter of riding our horses and minding the luggage. We returned with the loot, stored it safely in our homes, and headed out once again, with our cart, to bring the alabaster statue with us. Jeb's curse was removed by the expedient of spending coin for a scroll of curse removal, that was read by Jhod Kavken, our illustrious cleric and Minister of Finance. After four more days of traipsing through the woods, we returned to our capital city early in the evening.

This is where things, once again, took a turn for the worse. As we were riding into town, we encountered a large crowd of people, listening to a man who was loudly denigrating us, Amalur's rulers, with mostly imaginary crimes. He berated us for exploring the countryside, for levying (according to him anyway) high taxes, for releasing Kundahl the ex-werewolf from guilt over the werewolf attacks, and a whole pile of issues besides.

The crowd were swaying and responding favorably to him, and I was growing resentful; here we were, practically in talking distance, and this chubby traveler was berating everything we had achieved in two years of hard work. Agitating as he was, he was turning our own citizens against us with well-crafted lies and half-truths. As offensive as the sight was, we would have passed by, as we were tired from a long journey, but then Jadrick straightened up and whispered to me that the chubby agitator was using an ethralling enchantment on the crowd!

I checked myself quickly and found Jadrick was right; the crowd was being controlled by means of magic. Agitating was one thing – we had expressly allowed freedom of speech and association in our constitution, so recently affirmed. But we could not and would not abide someone enchanting our citizens and taking their free will, turning them against us. Seeing that the situation was potentially dire, with the crowd about to turn against us, I struck immediately, hurling magical missiles at the agitator.

As our party realized we were in grave danger, we attacked with all means at our disposal. The agitator immediately retaliated with some strange spell of his, which dulled the mind and the will, and prevented me from hitting him. Light, fortunately, was able to shrug off the potent dweomer. The agitator used magic to turn himself invisible, and sought to flee, his job apparently done. I was in no mood to let such a dangerous foe escape, so I gave my potion of seeing invisible to Light, who promptly drank the liquid and gave chase to the now invisible agitator. Despite his mastery of magic and enchanting dweomers, the agitator failed to escape and Light finally caught up with him and beat him senseless.

We managed to calm the crowd down and promptly took our prisoner to the cell we previously used to hold the werewolf imprisoned. I called upon our Justice Minister, Lily Teskerten, and asked her to arrange a swift trial for this criminal tomorrow. We intend to interrogate him as soon as we have the time, and we will get to the bottom of this affair. I instructed Lily to assemble a jury for the trial but to exclude any townsfolk as we could not be sure how many the criminal agitator had already enchanted with his spells.

To be honest, I am looking forward to tomorrow's trial. This will be the first test of Amalur's resolve and its principles. We will try this dastardly mage, we will discover his guilt or innocence, and we will protect our citizens from insidious mind control magic. Whoever or whatever arranged for this perfidious attack will pay dearly for it; this I swear.

Below is game journal from the session we played on August 4th, 2012. For this session, we got a new player; Matt, playing Valter the human ranged fighter.

17 Sarenith, AR 4712

Criminal proceedings and a trial are never a matter to be approached lightly; and today's trial of the agitator and conspirator Grigori was not different. Yes, the man's name is Grigori and he confessed as much under Light's tender mercies this morning; he spilled a lot more besides. Apparently, he was hired party or parties unknown to sow dissent and unrest in Amalur. The identity of his superiors remains unknown – Grigori did not know or care, and he was passed coin and instructions through message runners, which he did not bother to learn about.

A search of his person did discover written instructions, albeit somewhat cryptic, to the fact of sowing dissent, which we kept as evidence to be used in the afternoon's trial. Our Minister of Justice, Lily Teskerten, was the presiding judge, and seeing as we lack a proper city hall, the trial was held in Dreidendorf's town park, in the open. Grigori's other meager belongings were placed aside, to be kept on his behalf until after the trial. Even under interrogation, Grigori did not admit to family, clan or origin, but aside from my personal curiosity, I would grant that as he is simply a hired pawn, it does not matter much.

Trial proper was held about an hour past noon, and it was somewhat of a spectacle. We charged Grigori with magically controlling the minds of our citizens without their consent, with assault on government ministers, and resisting arrest. He predictably pleaded not guilty, and repeatedly spoke out of turn and tried to agitate against us even at trial, interrupting proceedings and refusing to follow judge Lily's instructions. After a few outbursts, I had Light stand behind him and strike him every time he opened his out mouth of order. That silenced him up really quickly and restored what order we could have.

Grigori made some outrageous claims, saying that we did not have any right to rule Amalur; that our charter was invalid as we didn't really kill the Stag Lord, and more along those lines. I reminded the court that we had just recently all signed our constitution, that all Ministers and district representatives agreed to it, and that it represented the will of the people as much as any royal charter from distant Brevoy ever could. Ignoring the spectacle Grigori was trying to cause, I brought forward witnesses to testify that Grigori was magically manipulating our citizens; all of our party testified clearly against him. Grigori made some feeble tries to cast doubt about our competency and trustworthiness, but they were not coherent.

At the end, I brought out my trump card – the note from unknown person or persons, hiring and instructing Grigori to cause dissent and unrest, and his confession to that matter. While we did not charge him with treason, the note was evidence enough, and his confession did not help matters. Following my presentation, Grigori had nothing more to say (nothing coherent or relevant that is, he had plenty to say that was just more hate spewing from his mouth). The jury deliberated very quickly, and found Grigori guilty on all charges. Lily judged that Grigori should be handed over to us and government of Amalur (with me as Prime Minister) to take care of his sentence.

I thought of granting mercy and simply exiling him, but his continued ranting led me to believe mere exile would be a pointless gesture. He'd be back within a fortnight to spew more of his hate and to issue more dangerous magic against our people. Thus, with much reluctance, I ordered that he be hanged until he died, and the sentence was promptly executed in the same public park, to much cheering from our citizenry.

After the execution, Jeb announced his immediate resignation as a minister, and declared his intention to leave Amalur and explore the wider world. He was resolute in his intent and nothing I could say would sway him. With some regret, we said our goodbyes and Jeb departed on his horse the following morning. Before he left, he named Valter, the bailiff, as his deputy, and we swore him into the government properly. Valter expressed some interest in exploration and we agreed to include him in our adventures, on Jeb's advice. Valter seems very good with his bow – a quality we have lacked in our group so far. We will see how he fares as an adventurer.

The whole trial affair left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I had ordered the execution of a man, a guilty and unrepentant man yes, but still I had ended his life on my conscience and at my will. Furthermore, there were forces unknown moving against us, and using pawns such as Grigori. This we had to investigate at the earliest opportunity. Finally, the trial was a bit of a spectacle and didn't sit too well with me. I think we ought to build a proper courthouse of some kind and a jail to hold our criminals; our facilities are inadequate at any rate.

Near sunset, Grigori's body was burned to ashes in accordance with our laws to prevent zombie risings. His remaining belongings I ordered given to charity as they were mundane and not worth much besides. I prayed briefly to Desna and Pharasma for his soul – he was a contemptible wretch but was a mere pawn in this affair. I wish I had some alternatives to execution but I had to consider the well-being of Amalur's citizens first and foremost. Perhaps we can find more civilized means of punishment in the future – this is something I should look into.

20 Sarenith, AR 4712

Success is what I will note down in this diary tonight; we have entered the burial caern of lost barbarian warrior and cleared it of all undead, making the whole area safe for our people. The whole affair took only three days and was a satisfying adventure to have.

The day after the trial of Grigori the agitator, Jadrick took the mithril statue of an elven woman to Lily Teskerten, since it was well-known in town she had a penchant for fine elven items. Lily received him and gave him a gift of a cloak enchanted with protective charm on it, and Jadrick spent the night at her house. I can only assume things went very well for our cheery gnome and I wish him good luck with Lily. Perhaps a match there could help both of them settle down, but I digress. We did agree to mark down this cloak from Jadrick's share of loot next time we split the money; it was only fair.

After Jadrick returned from Lily's the day after the trial, we decided to try and find a hidden burial caern marked on the map we got from Bokken's crazy brother. Valter the newly-named minister decided to accompany us on this adventure. The map led us south and east from Dreidendorf, following the shore of Tuskwater, and higher into the hills. It took us two days of careful exploration to finally locate the caern nestled in some dry hills overlooking Tuskwater lake. The journey to the caern was unremarkable; the map we had for guidance was of poor quality so we had to range widely until we located the caern itself.

The rumors we had heard related warnings of undead and traps in the tomb itself, and that the tomb's guardian had left the tomb to reclaim the stolen magic weapon residing inside once before. I had prepared for the expedition by purchasing a couple of flasks of holy water from Calistria's shrine.

The terrain here slopes upward from the lake waters, and vegetation is sparser than in the lowlands. Hills became rockier as we climbed, and the burrow mound housing the tomb itself was hard to find as it was practically indistinguishable from the surrounding hills. The door to the tomb was open and faced west. Morning sunlight barely penetrated more than a few feet into the darkened tomb; as Fiona was not fond of such places, she elected to stay outside and guard our horses. As for me, I took the precaution of lighting my belt buckle with magical light, and casting magical protection on Light the monk. Others prepared such lights or lanterns as they wanted, and then we entered the tomb proper.

The entry room was octagonal and laid with rough stone blocks. Mosaics of village life, with scenes of farming, hunting and fishing, covered the walls. The floor was crawling with small insects, and covered in substance I was immediately able to identify as bat guano. A cobwebbed tunnel led deeper underground, going east. As we quietly entered, we noticed many bats sleeping overhead in the entry chamber; I hoped not to disturb them as they might prove an unwelcome distraction.

Light moved ahead, and with his sharp elven eyes, noticed skeletal remains in the next chamber. The room ahead was shaped like a square, aligned so that we were facing one corner. Tunnels led straight, left and right, and horrible stone faces were carved into four sides of the room. We could barely glimpse some kind of a stone coffin at the far chamber dead ahead. Acting on impulse, I gave Light one holy water flask, with the instruction that he use it should undead be present.

Light mentioned casually that there was a barbarian tribe roaming these hills long ago, and that one barbarian was famed for his fist-fighting. This barbarian fought with one brass knuckle and a shield in the other hand. This brass knuckle was then stolen, and the barbarian apparently retrieved it even in death. The frightening tale did little to settle our spirits. As we advanced forward into the intersection, the enormous monstrous stone faces carved into the walls came to life, and shot rays of pale green energy at us.

We had set off the trap; in hindsight the skeleton lying face down in the middle of the room was an obvious clue. Light nimbly dodged the rays but Valter and myself were hit. I felt exhaustion overwhelm me; suddenly I felt as if I'd run for miles and miles and could barely stand any more. Surprised and dismayed at the magical trap, we retreated back into the entry chamber, only to find our yelling had disturbed the bats above us. They woke up and promptly attacked us, flying around in two great swarms.

I managed to stun most of the bats in the second swarm, sending them down to the floor, with my color spray spell. As we faced off with the bats, Valter took out a torch from his pack, lit it, and started to wave it around, hoping to drive the bays away. Suddenly, we heard grating sounds from within the tomb, and skeletons marched from two side chambers, to left and right from the magical trap intersection, attacking with ancient and rusted weapons.

Light stood to face them, but Jadrick called upon his magic and created a magical pit dead center in the room with the monstrous carved stone faces, while I cast the grease dweomer and covered the entry to passage out of the tomb with a slick, oily magical grease. As our retreat was blocked by the bats, and Light was busy covering our behind from the skeletons, we had to stand and fight. Luckily, Valter's torch and my alchemist's fire flasks made short work of the bats, especially as my magic had already stunned one swarm. I almost set fire to myself when I fumbled with one flask, but it rolled away from me and burned the bats anyway. Between Light's skilled hand-and-foot work, the magical pit and magical grease, the skeletons were destroyed on short order. I assisted as well, casting magical missiles to finish off the remaining ones.

We defeated about a dozen of the undead abominations, and with bats dead or fleeing, we exited the tomb quickly. Once outside, we assembled in a defensive formation and Fiona rushed to heal us from our injuries. She also used magic to cure Valter's exhaustion, but she had no more such spells ready to use on me. As it was, we waited about an hour as I needed rest badly.

Once I was rested and feeling a bit more spry, we returned to the tomb. We explored the northern and southern side chambers and found small rooms, with more village life mosaics, and alcoves with remains of dead warriors, now turned to brittle bones. No more skeletons came to life from these side chambers though. After a brief examination, we moved on to the final, central chamber. There we found walls adorned with a plethora of armor, shields, banners and standards, immersed among scenes of battle and conquest. Colors, once vivid and bright, were dulled by time and were flaking from the walls. Many mosaics were defaced and damaged by looters or vandals in years past.

Resting on top of a stone sarcophagus in the center of the chamber we found a withered corpse, its bony hands clutching brass knuckles across its chest. As we approached, the corpse came to life and arose, attacking us without mercy. The undead warrior was skilled but no match for our entire party. We surrounded it and broke its body with blows in under a minute, while suffering only minor injuries in return. At this point, fighting was over and we took the time to properly search the entire tomb for any valuables.

Normally, I'd frown at looting tombs and other resting places of the dead, but we knew from local tales that this creature was not confined to its tomb and had gone out to menace the people in the area before. Additionally, judging by the manner of its attack and the fact that it was undead, I thought it better for all living beings to destroy it and end its threat as well as send its soul to its much-delayed afterlife. While I personally have no great moral or philosophical objections to undeath, most undead beings are completely irrational and wholly evil, making their destruction a matter of safety and practicality.

The brass knuckles we recovered from the undead warrior were in fact magical, enchanted with strong dweomers of sharpness, and a bane to all fae creatures, made to strike them down. The single pair of knuckles we found was broken, but I judged it possible to repair them by use of a spell called make whole. Light showed an immediate interest in the brass knuckles, and we agreed it could be part of his share of the treasures. Aside from the magical brass knuckles, we found a broken chainmail on the undead warrior, about a dozen broken rusty scimitars other skeletons wielded, a wooden shield lying on the stone sarcophagus, and a magical ring of sustenance, found on the finger of a skeleton lying in the center of the room with the carved stone faces.

The ring of sustenance raised my interest; this curious and useful magical ring allows the wearer to go without food or water as it provides sustenance by means of magic. That benefit is significant in and of itself, but its rejuvenating properties have one side effect which is even more beneficial to me: the ring allows the wearer to sleep less and still be fully rested. This is particularly a benefit to such spellcasters as myself which require sound sleep to renew their magical energies. I claimed the ring and will take posession of it once we properly dispose of the treasure back in civilization.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the immediate area but found no more tombs or barrows. There were no signs of civilization here and the area was almost completely barren of animal life as well. Our camp we set just outside the hidden cairn in a small valley. Tomorrow we will head back to the city with news the threat of the hill tomb is no more.

25 Sarenith, AR 4712

News of our success in clearing out the threat of the undead warrior in his tomb was met with approval back in Dreidendorf. We stayed in the city for only one night, while Light purchased a scroll with the spell of making whole, and I cast it on the broken magical brass knuckles we'd won from the undead warrior. Light took to wearing the knuckles immediately and is looking forward to trying them out in battle.

The next day we traveled east and south again, following the shore of the lake. Exploring south in the hills, we came upon a river we identified as the Gudrin river. We followed the river upstream from the lake, trying to find a ford or a crossing. It took the better part of another day to locate a suitable ford, and we crossed Gudrin river going west.

After that, we explored the hills overlooking the lake for a few days, following along the south side of Gudrin river. Eventually, we reached Tuskwater lake again, and found a 3 mile stretch of lake shore rising from the waters below. The shore here ended with a series of cliffs, towering about 40 feet over the lake, and reaching the lake itself was difficult. Fiona led us through a series of hidden trails and eventually found a path going down to a secluded pool surrounded by nettles on all sides.

The pool, about 50 feet in diameter, seeming like a nice place to camp. While we looked around to settle down for the day, a large shape arose from the water and attacked us. It was a crackjaw turtle of unusual size, almost as big as a man, and of very hostile disposition. Despite its size and ferocity, the turtle was slow and an easy target for our magical and mundane missiles, and we dispatched it without suffering any injuries. Valter told us there is a fisherman in the city telling a tale of this turtle and how it occupied his favorite fishing spot; we resolved to inform the unlucky fisherman the creature was dead once we returned.

The turtle made for fine supper; we made soup and roasted the meat over the fire. We spent most of the next day exploring this stretch of the lake shore. There are a number of hidden bays and small pools; many teeming with fish. The cliffs make settlement in the area difficult and the lake is not accessible from the shore in most places. The fishing at least will be a useful activity here.

30 Sarenith, AR 4712

We have spent several days exploring along the southern shore of Tuskwater lake. Aside from a single rainstorm which we waited out under some trees, the weather stayed sunny and warm. Two days after killing the big crackjaw turtle, we found a strange 20 foot wide pool of bubbling mud in a narrow defile between two hills. The mud was hot but not so hot as to cause immediate burns. We observed the pool from a safe distance, concerned about the foul smelling vapors arising from it.

Jadrick sent a couple of small earth elementals to explore the pool, summoning them on the spot. They reported back in a few minutes, telling us they'd found a fire source beneath the pool heating the mud, and that there was also a “mean mushroom” residing there. Questioning the elementals about this “mean mushroom” proved pointless as they couldn't tell us much more. We decided to come back to this pool later and try to find this mushroom and determine if it was a threat or not.

Soon after that, we ran into a river flowing out of the lake, and apparently, according to our general map of the area, this was Shrike river, the southern part continuing to flow out of the lake. Following the Shrike river downstream, we traveled south and east, encountering more hilly terrain. The next day we found an abandoned ferry station with a few collapsing wooden buildings nestled in a small valley along the river. Not much past the ferry station, we found another, smaller river flowing into the Shrike. This we identified as the Little Sellen river. As we were interested in circumnavigating lake Tuskwater, we took advantage of the ford near the ferry station to cross the Shrike river and continue our exploration.

South from this point, we found a peninsula jutting into the lake, and from the tip of the peninsula we observed the southern part of Tuskwater, which is actually called Candlemere lake. In the center of this water expanse we spied an island. Light's sharp eyes noticed some sort of a building or fortification standing among the trees on the lake island, but the distance was too great to make out any details. Still, we noted its position and resolved to explore it at a later time. My thought was that if we ever claimed this part of Tuskwater lake for Amalur, I wanted to claim the island for myself. While I am no great follower of tradition, most mages build towers or keeps for their own use, and I figured having a safe place to reside and conduct the occasional experiment would be very useful.

From here we continued traveling along the shore of the lake, passing through mostly dry and empty hills. Near the lake shore, the terrain sported the occasional copse of trees, but higher up, only bushes and grasses covered the lands. A brief summer thunderstorm with heavy rain interrupted our progress, but it lasted only an hour and the skies cleared rapidly as soon as the rain stopped.

We were just finishing drying off and we had climbed a particularly steep hill, when we saw a giant humanoid right in front of us! It towered over our party, topping at over 10 feet of height, but it was hunched a little, covered in filthy animals skins and carrying a huge wooden club. We easily recognized it as a hill giant. They are rumored to roam the highlands south and east of the Tuskwater lake. We could now confirm the rumor as true; we braced ourselves for a fight as these giants have a reputation for hostility and aggression.

However, there was no fight to be had. The giant seemed indifferent to us, other than to look us over briefly and yell out his request for alcohol. He was also interested in food, and offered a reasonable trade – some of his jerky for some of our food. Emboldened by the relatively friendly approach, I struck a conversation with the giant. I introduced myself and my companions, and the giant named himself Munguk. Light also took to conversing with the giant, although Munguk was sometimes hard to understand; his speech and manner were simple and he was slow to understand us. Light shared some beef with the giant and ate some of Munguk's jerky (which was reported as dwarf jerky by Munguk).

As appalled as we were at the origin of the giant's jerky, we all felt it was safer to make friends with this being than to fight. Responding to Munguk's request for alcohol, I explained we had a brewery in our city and that he could come and get some beer there. He was very interested although seemed dubious at the idea we could provide him with barrels and barrels of beer. Munguk chose to accompany us, and we continued our journey.

As we explored the hills, I spoke with Munguk at length and explained Amalur and its ideals; as much as I could given Munguk's slow wits. He was intrigued by the idea of many races living together and not eating each other, and very interested in getting beer on a regular basis. I explained the idea of working for a living, and offered to hire him on as a guard in the city. Munguk boasted of his fighting prowess; regardless of his actual skill, a guard of his size and ferocity would be sure to boast our defenses considerably.

In the end, I somehow made fast friends with the amiable hill giant, and he was convinced of the idea to follow Amalur's laws (well, to the extent he could understand them) and work as a guard. By the end of the day, we had covered a fair distance along the shores of Candlemere lake. At this point it became obvious that to continue in this way around the lake would take us a while to get back to Dreidendorf, so we agreed to simply travel back along the southern and eastern shores, going straight for the city. We should reach Amalur's capital in two days' riding; Munguk has managed to keep pace with us so far on foot; he truly is an amazing being.

With any luck, we should be able to resupply briefly in the city and return to our exploration within a few days. I hope so, at least.

12 Arodus, AR 4712

Hope, apparently, always dies last. In the past two years, I have lamented on several occasions that the state business of Amalur kept getting between my desire to adventure and explore and my actual reality of spending weeks and months cooped up in meetings, endless audiences and planning sessions on this or that tidbit. It happened again, to nobody's real surprise.

We had come back from our latest expedition around the southern shores of Tuskwater lake in good order; accompanied by the friendly hill giant Munguk who hired on as a city guard. Munguk's oversized appetite ate into our rations, literally, as even Fiona's skills in gathering food were insufficient to feed this hill giant on the way back.

Once we returned, we were swamped with governmental business. A trade delegation from Varnhold, a community to east and south from us, arrived with a caravan of trade goods and negotiated a standing trade route for exchange of goods. We made good coin on various taxes and tariffs from the trade. Peace continued to reign in Amalur, and our tax receipts were very good. Weather has been favorable and with the exception of brief windstorm last week, has been sunny and calm.

Some interesting magic items came up for sale recently in the city; a magically accurate longbow, a wand of the dweomer of boiling blood, and a campfire bead. The wand seemed interesting but I deemed it too ghoulish to purchase; causing someone's blood to boil from the inside seemed more like torture than a useful option for attack or defense. In the end, one of the resident wizards in the caster's tower in Newton district purchased it, so it was a moot point. Someone bought the wooden shield with minor protective enchantments Fiona had her eye on – but once again, she had changed her mind by the time the item had come up for auction.

Munguk the hill giant proceeded to prove himself an able protector – he scared away several hostile animals enroaching on our territory, and appeased constant rumors of troll attacks with his boasting and obvious ability to fight them. He even promised to kill any trolls that approached the city personally, and given his huge size and strength, many citizens believed him. After some consideration, we decided to honor his dedication and offered him the position of the Warden, which he accepted. Well, he accepted after we explained what it meant; apparently the draw of a higher pay which he could use to buy more beer proved irresistible.

Kesten Garess, our previous warden, was moved to the position of the Minister of War, to fill a vacancy caused by Jeb's departure, while our newly-proven companion Valter Radic accepted the position of Minister of Constabulary, for which we feel he is well qualified.

Farmers have been praising the weather lately – I admit to being mostly ignorant of the finer points of their trade, but apparently the alternating days of clear skies and warm sunshine and the occasional brief rain have given our crops the ideal conditions in which to grow large and plentiful. The feeling among the peasants is that this summer's harvest could well be one to remember for plenty; which of course makes them happier and this is always a good thing.

Our territorial expansion picked up a little bit again this month. We claimed a bit more of the plains northwest of Olegton, between the Brevoy border and the forest, and funded farms, roads and villages in the area. Eventually we hope to expand into the fertile plains west of the forest, but for now our borders will likely stabilize no more than a dozen miles west of Olegton.

9 Rova, AR 4712

Summer is almost over but judging by the scorching-hot days and warm nights, the land doesn't seem ready to let it end. The past month would have been one of the calmest and least eventful in a long while, except for the long-lasting thunderstorm and for the terrible earthquake that struck Amalur last week.

It all started about two weeks ago, as terribly strong winds and torrential rain poured from the skies for five long days. The wind damaged some roofs and the occasional crop field; while the endless rain almost caused a flooding of the Shrike river. The lake waters rose about two feet but fortunately we were prepared and our waterfront buildings were sufficiently above the waterline to avoid damage. The storm finally lessened and died, leaving cloudy skies and mud everywhere.

Then, six nights ago, we all woke when the earth itself shook and moved sometime in the early hours of the morning. Amidst the cries and panic, we managed to quickly organize the citizens into groups, led by our party members, other ministers, and government officials, and we set out to help and rescue those affected. Thanks to our swift response, the brothel and the graveyard were saved from a fire that came about due to the earthquake, and we managed to rescue a few citizens trapped by the falling debris as well. In light of the morning, the damage was surprisingly limited; it all looked quite terrible initially but could be repaired quickly.

The occasional troll sighting has riled up the few hotheads which almost always complain about something or other, but Munguk, our hill giant Warden, has successfully dealt with both the rumors and the hotheads with a firm hand and an oversized mace.

Trade in magical items remained steady – a magically accurate longbow was sold to a passing nobleman, and Jadrick purchased a scroll of shatter spell. A staff of fire dweomers, result of a canceled commission from Brevoy, was finally sold a few weeks ago to agents of a mage from Galt who showed an interest. Another staff, this one with many charm-like enchantments, was completed recently by our local caster's tower. Once again, the price is out of my range; it is a pity for I feel the staff would greatly enhance my casting repertoire.

17 Lamashan, AR 4712

Another autumn has arrived and the weather has turned cold with a vengeance. Unlike the mild and warm early autumn months of previous years, this year frost arrived in the first week of Lamashan. The harvest was complete and fully gathered so the cold has little impact on the crops; we've had two harsh hailstorms in the past three weeks but luckily they've done almost no real damage. Cold weather has also brought with it frequent fog – today the whole of Dreidendorf was shrouded in fog from sunrise to late morning, and even when sun peeked through the clouds overhead, the fog didn't disperse, it just thinned a bit.

Despite the depressing weather, the mood in Amalur is buoyant. The first new beer brew of the year was offered for sale a few days ago and the end of the harvest festival was celebrated with much energy. The big news is the completion of the academy in Newton district of the capital – it was dedicated just yesterday. This large complex includes a school, a library and other facilities for residents and visiting scholars alike. The funding took a while to arrange, and the construction had been ongoing since late summer. With this new building, Amalur joins the ranks of nations holding learning and scholarship in high esteem.

Contined efforts from our spellcasters in the community resulted in a completed magical ring of greater revelations. The ring was sold the next day in an auction which saw a fierce bidding war between several wealthy parties. Our colony benefited from the significant fees and taxes brought on by the sale. Jadrick found a scroll of altering self on sale and purchased it; while Light was intrigued by an amulet that gives the wearer tougher skin, which he purchased for himself as he mostly disdains proper armor.

In a show of excellence, a local blacksmith by the name of Altor created a magnificent set of gilded armor, a breastplate of great quality. The armor itself is a masterpiece of design and artistic merit. The outstanding achievement brought much fame to our nation as rumors of talented artisans in Dreidendorf spread far and wide.

In all the hubbub over Altor's masterwork breastplate armor, the few persistent rumors of trolls attacking travelers and lone farmers went almost unheeded. As usual, Munguk the hill giant, our Warden and resident troll basher, took to calming down the fears and was mostly successful.

The peaceful passage of the last few months has allowed me to take time away from government duties for my personal research. Working closely with Jadrick, I have finally mastered the dweomer of haste, as well as learning the spell of levitation, and a dweomer to generate a loud, ear-piercing scream as a form of attack. Of all these, the haste dweomer is most significant, for it marks a rite of passage of sorts – it is a spell of the 3rd circle, and mages who have mastered such are universally regarded as more than apprentices. While there are really no formal magical academies or colleges this far in the savage North, if there was one, I would undoubtedly petition it for a title of a journeyman mage as this point.

This brings a point that I have been neglecting – several of my teachers in magic have claimed that in order to truly advance as a wizard, one must take on an apprentice and teach them magic. I always felt this was nonsense as logically, teaching others advances their knowledge and understanding, not that of a teacher. Perhaps I was mistaken; I will endeavor to seek an apprentice in the near future. A wizard would be better than a sorcerer in my opinion – the more structured nature of wizardly magic would suit training more. I would also be very keen to find one such apprentice with an inclination toward construction and enchanting of new magical items. If none such appear, I will have to undertake this task myself. The magical crafting community in Amalur is vibrant but alas, never seems to produce just what I'd like to purchase.

I've also expanded my training with regular sessions on good manners, public speaking and proper forms of address, conducted with Melianse the nixie. It amuses her greatly that I, her ruler and sovereign, should seek her advice on diplomacy. I tolerate her quips and smile as much as I can; she's far from poor company and her lessons are valuable.

A final point that has occupied my thoughts recently relates to our security as a community; most rulers have armies and troops to guard their nations while they are away or conducting government business. We have few local town guards and constabulary, and of course Munguk the giant, but we are woefully short of a real military. Perhaps a personal retinue of some sort could be attracted and arranged, for myself or the nation. I'd prefer a mobile force, well-versed in woodcraft and stealth, but it remains to be seen how we will resolve this issue.

This is a journal entry from our game session on August 18th '12. We had fun exploring around Tuskwater lake and rescued the boy Tig.

18 Lamashan, AR 4712

After a couple of months of no exploration, we have embarked on another journey to map and secure the neighboring lands. I have restocked my potions of comprehending languages from Bokken, and we set out yesterday.

We traveled along the western shore of Tuskwater lake, searching for the abode of Old Beldame, a witch rumored to inhabit the local area. The rumors in town indicated the witch was of a hostile disposition and some people even claimed she ate children. We were prepared to deal with her one way or another, but I was hoping to avoid a confrontation.

In particular, we were hoping to uncover the fate of the missing boy by name of Tig, who had disappeared almost two years ago. In addition, we wanted to complete our maps of the area surrounding lake Tuskwater. The first day of traveling led us through gentle rolling hills next to the lake. The weather turned foul shortly after we set out and we were pummeled by a short hailstorm and rainstorm, lasting about an hour. The hail struck us and our mounts but it was small in size and didn't cause injury, other than a few minor bruises.

The terrain sloped lower the further west and south we went, and turned into a small swamp near the lake. We almost stumbled onto a house in the swamp, hidden by trees and vegetation, and surrounded by small inlets of water, about waist deep. The house was apparently the witch's hut, surrounded by a short wooden fence. Fetishes, feathers, stuffed birds, stones and strangely-shaped branches were hung around the house proper. There was smoke of severak different colors coming out of the sole chimney in residence.

We crossed the muddy stream leading up to the gate in the fence and knocked, fairly loudly. We tried a few times but there was no response. Noticing a scarecrow watching from a nearby tree inside the fence, I tried talking to it, trying different languages. Other party members tried as well, without any visible reaction. After a few minutes of this, the shutters on one of the windows of the house opened, and we saw a strange older woman appear. Her skin was green and she had pointed ears. We thought at first her to be a hag or perhaps some variety of troll, but I realized she was likely as human as myself; the strange green skin and pointed ears could have been a consequence of a sorcerous magic. Some sorcerers draw their power from most unusual sources, and are in turn changed by the magic they wield. This was rather an extreme example of such a change, but she simply did not fit into any other category I could imagine.

The witch asked us who we were and what we wanted, rather brusquely. I introduced our party and explained our purpose here, and inquired about the child Tig. Old Beldame confirmed her name and that she resided here in the swamp, but denied any knowledge of the child's whereabouts. Contrary to rumors, I was inclined to believe her, and Fiona, who among us was the best judge of character, agreed. Besides, Light had sneaked around the house and taken a look through the shutters, and could find no sign of the child or of any wrongdoing for that matter.

We did strike a conversation with Beldame after a few false starts (Jadrick was a bit more charming than usual and that helped). Beldame explained that she preferred her solitude and that her wicked reputation helped keep people away. We agreed not to speak about this encounter lest her reputation be ruined. She indicated there was a tribe of lizardfolk further west in the area, who may have taken the child (and eaten him), or that the kid could have fallen afoul of a will-o-wisp; several were known to wander the area. After I asked, Beldame gave us clear directions to the lizardfolk camp, which was a fortified small island in a river southwest of Beldame's house.

While we were conversing in fairly civil fashion, I was struck by an inspiration and asked if she needed any assistance; Beldame asked us in return to provide her with some black rattlecap mushrooms. Apparently, they are very rare and grow only in mud bowls. There was one such bowl Beldame described on the other side of the lake, and we recognized it from our previous journey of exploration. She warned us the mud could hide foes and explained the mushrooms are used to brew a potent tea. Finally, Beldame offered a 100 gold piece reward for each black rattlecap we bring her, which definitely peaked our interest. We promised to return once we had the mushrooms and bid the old witch goodbye.

I hope to talk with Beldame more in the future as I suspect she is knowledgeable in arcane arts and I could use a different perspective on my studies.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the area. The swamp was humid, unpleasant, muddy, and full of biting mosquitoes, and the hills upward from the swamp were uninteresting. Tonight we are camping in a grove of willow trees just above the swamp; I hope the elevation will keep the worst of the insects away.

19 Lamashan, AR 4712

This morning, we continued moving west and south along the forested shores of Tuskwater lake. We had been traveling for about an hour, when we noticed a huge shape about a hundred feet ahead of us, trying to hide in the low-lying bushes. We barely had a moment to observe the creature, when it charged us from hiding.

I recognized the creature as a hydra, a deadly magical beast, an ambush predator. Its huge reptilian body is topped by multiple heads on long necks, and some varieties are known to be able to breathe fire or cold from its heads. They are unfailingly hostile and can regenerate from most injuries. The preferred method of killing a hydra is chopping off all of its heads, or alternatively, simply hitting it with massive damage to prevent it from regenerating.

Fiona summoned a lightining bolt from the skies, charring the hydra, and immediately followed it up with a flaming sphere which she directed the burn the huge creature. Percy, Jadrick's eidolon, charged and bit the foe, while I cast a glitterdust spell to blind it. Finally and surprisingly, it was Valter, our archer, who finished the hydra off with three arrows shot in mere moments, each striking deep into a vital spot. The hydra keeled over and expired from its many injuries. I admit to being awed by Valter's speed and accuracy. In favorable conditions, his archery is proving most deadly.

Nearby, we found a nest of branches and mud, which was apparently the hydra's lair. Within the nest, there was one old platinum coin and a well-made buckler, in a pile of rotting bones and remains of hydra's previous victims. We took the coin and the buckler and stored them in our loot bags.

After the encounter with the hydra, we continued our march until we reached Murque river section with a muddy island in the middle of the water, as described by old Beldame. The island was low-lying, protruding from the middle of a widening river, and it was surrounded by a palisade of wooden stakes, facing outward and appearing pretty sharp. Inside, tendrils of wood smoke rose from a handful of mounds clustered around a single large mound. A single wooden gate on the eastern side of the island was the only apparent entrance we could see.

Fiona transformed into an eagle to scout the lizardfolk island from the air, while Valter climbed a tall tree on the shore to look over the area. He noticed a human boy tied to a wooden stake inside the island and immediately alerted us. He also noticed a number of lizardfolk milling around inside the palisade. Two lizardfolk guards were standing next to the gate in the palisade, guarding it.

As we could not be sure of the welcome we would receive from the lizardfolk if we simply announced our presence, we prepared for a possible battle. I used a mage armor dweomer on myself and Light, as I usually do when battle seems imminent. Others prepared weapons or spells such as they thought would be needed. The river channel between the shore and lizardfolk island was about 50 feet wide and not too deep. Valter swam across with a rope, tied it to the palisade, and then we followed. I carefully walked around the edge of the island to the wooden gate, and called the lizardfolk out in the common tongue. Lizardfolk responded in a strange language, which Fiona and Jadrick recognized as draconic (and only Jadrick could speak it) so Jadrick handled the talking.

We discovered the lizardfolk were not particularly interested in the boy, and wanted to get rid of him, but that their king, Vestket, claimed powerful spirits ordered him to torture and keep the boy. Jadrick and myself negoatiated with the lizardfolk guards at the gate. We found out that food has been scarce for the lizardfolk lately, and offered food in exchange for the boy. However, the guards told us the king would never let the boy go. The guards did imply that if the boy was to go missing, lizardfolk would not care much, which gave us an idea.

We decided to try and snatch Tig away from the lizardfolk, avoiding a large fight with the entire village. While we spoke to the guards, Light climbed over the palisade and hid himself near the wooden stake holding Tig captive. I used a message cantrip to communicate with Light at a distance, and to coordinate with Fiona flying over the village, circling it. We told the lizardfolk guards we might come back later to trade with food and gifts for the king, and moved out of sight by going around the palisade away from the gate.

Once we were out of the guards' sight, we put out plan into action. Light used some strange power of his to turn invisible, and went ahead to free the boy and get him out of the village. Meanwhile, I concentrated and summoned an illusion of an adult green dragon flying over the village, booming in a large voice that the spirits are unhappy with the torture of human boys. I used the silent image dweomer and a ghost sound cantrip in conjunction – it was hard as I had to concentrate on both at the same time, but I managed somehow.

Light was his usual efficient self, and grabbed the boy and got out in under a minute, while the lizardfolk were distracted by my illusionary dragon. Noticing the boy is missing, the lizardfolk king, Vestket, stalked to the gate to try and pursue us, but Fiona flew right into the river, transformed in a dolphin, and helped us swim to the shore. Once we reached the shore, we mounted our horses (Light and his charge, the boy Tig included) and fled the area.

There was no real pursuit, so we were able to escape unhindered. The boy, Tig, was subdued and injured and in poor shape, but Fiona was able to heal most of his injuries. He remained mostly silent and cried quite a bit. We will camp tonight after we finish exploring the area. Tomorrow we plan to head back to the city and reunite the boy with his parents.

22 Lamashan, AR 4712

Our return to Dreidendorf took only a day and was without incident and we took the boy, Tig, to his grateful parents. They were overjoyed to see their son back so we left them to their long-awaited reunion. I was hoping for some well-deserved rest, but as usual, circumstances invervened.

Within a few hours of our return, our constables reported unrest in the city over rumors of a vicious cult dedicated to the hag goddess Gyronna, the deity of hate and spite, setting up shop in town. Over the years, a number of isolated communities were reported destroyed by the cult and its machinations; the concern of our citizenry was real and the menace required our immediate response.

The party debated letting the constabulary handle this particular task but we feared they were not up for it. Our city constables are capable enough of keeping the peace and roughing up the drunks, vagrants and various minor riffraff, but this sort of an investigation was likely beyond their ability. In the end, we decided to tackle the problem ourselves.

Our own limited knowledge of religious affairs indicated these cults were formed of priestesses, all women, who were usually embittered, single or widowed, and who has cause to resent the world and men in particular. They were chosen from the ranks of spurned lovers, adultresses and other scorned and neglected women. Most of the information we gathered came from Fiona, who as a woman herself was in a better position to gather the gossip on such in town.

I will admit with some reluctance that I thought to learn more of these cultists and visited the brothel, hoping that perhaps some of the prostitutes would know more. I didn't learn much and I could only report spending a few hours in very pleasant company, of which I will speak no more.

According to Fiona and the reports from our constables, there were about a dozen women in town who fit the general profile of these cultists. We decided to gather them and question them, one by one, in hope of getting a confession. Light decided to follow the most likely target himself, while we gathered the others and started to question them. To aid in our investigation, we consulted with Jhod Khavken, our deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, who was also a priest himself and very knowledgeable of the gods of the world. He indicated the symbols, rites, and practices common to Gyronna's clergy. Of particularl interest was a shabble, a special robe that all of them were supposed to wear. This shabble is normally supposed to be hidden, so we decided that searching the houses of the suspected women might yield clues.

To handle this properly, we obtained a dozen warrants for searching for clues of Gyronna's cult from our Justice Minister, Lily Teskerten. After that, we searched the homes of the suspected women while our constabulary held them in the town hall under guard. Light searched his target's home independently; we sent Fiona to search the others. She found one shabble and evidence of Gyronna's practices in one more home.

With two confirmed suspects and one still possible out of a dozen women we had detained or followed, we had no reason to keep the others in custody, so we released them with my personal apologies and a promise to entertain them with a dinner in castle Chomper, at my personal expense. Some accepted the offer, a few refused, and I thought I had managed to ruffle the tempers of most. Afterwards, Fiona and myself tried to extract a confession from two confirmed cultists in our custody, but they remained silent event after being confronted with evidence taken from their homes.

Light followed our prime suspect around town during all of this, and noted her suspicious behavior, as well as that she visited a run-down barn at the edge of town several times. Since we wanted to catch all of the cultists at once, we decided to ambush them at this barn since we believed it was their meeting place. A few stealthy constables kept a watch over the barn, while Light kept shadowing the woman who was our prime suspect. The following evening, we received word from Light and the constables that five women had gathered in the barn, and we decided to arrest them there.

The party gathered near the barn, and we assigned some town guards to watch the perimeter and make sure nobody escaped, while we went inside to make our arrests. After casting some protective enchantments on ourselves, the party entered the barn without warning. I went in first, hoping to accept the surrender of the cultist women, but I promptly tripped over a wire strung across the entrance. The cunning trap triggered a loud bell, which alerted the priestesses.

The barn itself was empty, but there were stairs leading to a cellar below, and we all rushed down. In the cellar, we caught five priestesses of Gyronna, including the woman who Light had followed around, in full regalia, likely participating in some foul ritual. Despite our demands for their immediate surrender, the priestesses fought with spells and daggers. We tried to sudue them all without killing them, but the chief priestess was killed by Valter in the fighting; she tried to curse us with her spells but Valter killed her before she could complete the curse. Others were subdued after a brief struggle, proving no match for our spells and weapons.

As we handed the priestesses of Gyronna into custody of town guards, I considered the need for a proper place to hold prisoners and criminals once again. I decided that we needed a prison or jail built as soon as possible, and resolved to raise the issue at the next meeting of the Council.

This is actually the post from August 18 2012; previous post was from game before that. Here we killed the trolls in their lair and our capital was attacked by immense owlbear. We all leveled to level 7 at the end of the session and will start Book 3 of this AP next time.

11 Neth, AR 4712

Fall is proving to be rainy and cold this year. In the weeks following our exposure and arrest of the Gyronna cultists (their leader having been slain during the fighting), we worked on governmental issues for the most part. Fiona has started some kind of a religious retreat, traveling through the nearby woods with her pet thylacine at odd hours and spending a lot of time in meditation. The rest of us were kept busy with our Council work.

Despite contined rumors of trolls here and there, Amalur has been largely peaceful lately. Magic item trade continued to be fairly brisk. A strongly enchanted padded armor with some kind of elemental resistance was offered for sale, as well as another item useful for fending off undead, an enchanted buckler effective even against ghosts and other insubstantial creatures. The padded magical armor was sold in open auction while the buckler was another commissioned item headed for Restov. As usual, our fees and taxes on said sales were plentiful. Magical potions of fear removal and cat's grace were offered for sale, but there were no buyers interested in such.

Amalur continues to expand slowly, mostly in the northern plains. We claimed two fairly large farming areas west and north of Olegton, following the border with Brevoy and along the woods. Our craftsmen set to work constructing farms, roads and other necessary items for our settlements to prosper. Tax receipts were better than expected and our treasury has grown significantly.

Jadrick and I took our time examining the items we seized from the Gyronna cultists. They were for the most part entirely mundane, and as such will be returned to the remaining cultist women after they have served their sentence of hard labor. We did find a strange, fist-sized cat-eye crystal, that we identified as a chrysoberyl. This item is typically part of worship of Gyronna and we have confiscated it, fearing to destroy it or sell it. The slain head priestess of Gyrona had a masterfully made dagger, equally high quality buckler, and a shabble of Gyronna, with some magical properties. This magical shabble makes the wearer better at conducting negotiations and intimidating foes, while worshippers of Gyronna can additionally magically read the thoughts of others once per day. We haven't decided yet whether to keep this interesting robe or not. I am personally leery of owning any object so closely associated with the worship of this evil deity.

We received messengers from Restov, from the Swordlords, last week. They brought with them another charter; this one warns of troll bands operating in Greenbelt. We have been tasked with ridding the area of this menace. Apparently, the death of the troll leader Hargulka should be sufficient to disperse the survivors. The offered 2,000 gold pieces reward in coin as well as a shipment of fine building materials (logs, planks, brick, stone) worth another 20,000 pieces of gold is certainly intriguing. I am not entirely sure we should accept such aid from Brevoy; this is something we will decide upon later.

Even as I would have wanted to depart on our troll hunt immediately, the terrible thunderstorm currently raining on us is making the prospect of travel most unappetising. As soon as the weather clears, we will be on our way.

20 Neth, AR 4712

Our troll-hunting expedition departed Dreidendorf with a slight delay four days ago. Fiona is still on her religious retreat and declined to accompany us; we pressed on regardless. After setting out, we traveled west for a day, reaching the abandoned elven keep in the Gnarlmarches near sunset. We camped without trouble at the keep and then moved south, bypassing the headwaters of Murque river and exploring the forest beyond the keep.

Weather remained cold but clear; we were forced to huddle around the campfire each night and slept covered in heavy blankets, with only one person standing guard. After moving south for a bit and passing through the old growth forest and the occasional swampy area, we neared Murque river again and decided to follow its course south while exploring near the river. Late in the afternoon of the second day, we were attacked by a small greenish-gray blur; which I recognized as the quickling which we had fought at the abandoned elven keep some months back.

The fighting was brief and only Valter was slightly injured – we drove the quickling away with arrows and spells in short order. Light attempted to pursue the speedy fae but we lost its trail in moments. Jadrick tried to command his eidolon to track the quickling by scent, but Percy was unable to follow it, not being a trained blood-hound. I am sure we haven't seen the last of that pernicious fae.

Missing Fiona's skill with the hunt, we couldn't forage enough food to feed all of us, so some of us ate tasteless wandermeals instead. We spent the third and fourth days of our expedition trudging slowly through the forest while rain poured on us and the skies were covered in dark clouds. Our progress during those two days was minimal and our tempers flared due to the cold and wet and the depressing forest around us.

On the fifth day, we crossed several swampy areas on the southern bank of Murque river. While crossing one such area, we were ambushed by a huge shape lurking in the swamp. A massive reptilian green body, with wings, flew at us from an ambush. It was a forest drake, and its initial attack drenched us in acid, which scorched and burned the flesh from our bones. Luckily, our horses did not panic and we dismounted in some haste while trying to fight the flying drake.

The fight was as vicious as it was brief; the drake chose to stand its ground and fight us directly, clawing and biting with its deadly natural weapons while hovering in the air above us. Despite its size and ferocity, the drake could not stand againt Valter's hail of arrows, assisted by Percy and Light fighting hand-to-claw with the drake. Jadrick and I limited our assistance to protecting our companions from harm and keeping the drake occupied by means of magical blindness. We dispatched the drake quickly and then looked around, searching for its nest or lair. Alas, we could find no trace of such and we figured the drake, being a powerful flier, must have hunted a long distance from its lair. I noted the location of the drake's carcass as the hide is potentially very valuable; lacking Fiona's expertise we chose not to try and skin it ourselves. We will have to return for the hide at some time after we deal with the trolls. We did cut off the drake's head as evidence of its demise to bring back to Amalur.

For the next two days, we continued to explore southward and eventually reached shores of the Candlemere lake. We spent some time waiting out a thunderstorm at the lake shore, but once it passed, we crossed into the forest west of the lake. Tonight we are camping on a small hillock in deep woods. The terrain seems to rise slightly here, leading to what appears to be a tall hill west of our current location. I hope we find some trace of the trolls in the highlands since so far we have seen neither hair nor hide of our elusive quarry.

23 Neth, AR 4712

Yesterday we climbed a bit, reaching halfway up a hill towering over the local area. The terrain continues to be heavily wooded, which is slowing us down as there as no clear paths for us to take. Freezing temperatures and an almost constant drizzle took their toll; lacking Fiona to guide us through the worst of terrain and weather, we keep stumbling around and finding nothing of interest.

This morning the skies cleared, but even the sun could not chase the chill of the night from our bones. We kept moving through the hills, looking for signs of trolls. Around noon, we discovered a small valley nestled in the hills with a beautiful waterfall and a small pool of crystal clear water, with a stream flowing down from the valley into the lowlands. We noticed a set of traveling clothes, a bow, and some gear lying around at the base of the waterfall, and then we saw a gorgeous naked redheaded woman showering in the waterfall itself!

Somewhat stunned by the sight, I called out in warning of our approach, trying in vain to avert my eyes from the naked woman. Our approach did not go unnoticed, and the woman looked at us, her eyes widening. She called out in the common tongue, asking if we could see her, and when we confirmed that this was indeed the case, she yelped very loudly, and suddenly she literally faded from view, her equipment disappearing with her. While we all suspected the woman had enacted some form of magical invisibility, we chose not to attempt to find her; we had enough trouble on our plate without chasing strange naked showering redheads.

This encounter having definitely lifted our spirits, we continued higher into the hills. A scant hour later, Light found a small handwritten paper note on the groud, saying “Trolls This Way” in common and with an arrow drawn and pointing higher up. We all suspected the occasionally invisible redheaded bather was the writer of the note, but while we could not discern her motives, we had no other clues to follow so we decided to explore in the direction indicated.

It is relatively common knowledge among the locals that trolls are large, predatory and hostile humanoids, commonly of great strenth, greenish hued skin, and fabled for their ability to regenerate any wound in moments. We've also learned that they are leery of fire, that they hunt in darkness, and that while they are intelligent and sentient, talking to one is nearly always a waste of time – they see humans and other humanoids as prey and meat only. Looking in hindsight, we were not nearly as prepared as we should have been. We only had a few torches to use as potential weapons, and we arrogantly relied on our proven prowess in previous battles to carry the day. I wish we had had the wisdom to carry vials of acid or perhaps flasks of alchemist's fire, but sadly, we did not.

A short time after we found the note pointing us in the direction of trolls, the terrain sloped sharply upward and became very rocky. The forest gave way to barren stone and we found our horses could not climb any further. We were forced to leave them behind, tied to a tree. After that, the going got harder as we climbed steep slopes and huge stone ledges. We were following a barely recognizable path cut around steep cliffs and giant boulders, while Valter chose to climb the cliffs parallel to our path, scouting ahead from his elevated position. He was the first to notice some kind of a stone watchtower jutting from the rock ahead of us, and warned us to keep hidden.

We heard voices talking in what Jadrick recognized as the giant language, and unwilling to risk a confrontation in the open, I used a message cantrip to achieve silent communication between us, and then spent the better part of my magical energy to cast a spell of invisibility on the entire party except Valter. The party then climbed up to the base of the cliff under the watchtower, and entered through the open stone door.

Inside, we noticed two large trolls standing ready in ambush. As we were invisible, they failed to notice us creeping into the structure. Once we were all inside except for Valter, we attacked them with all the weapons at our disposal. The battle was difficult and the trolls were joined another one coming up from the passageway with stairs going up and to the south, where the watchtower was presumably located. Strange troll-like dogs, called trollhounds, attacked us as well. The trolls and their hounds proved formidable opponents; despite the heavy barrage of fire from Valter, spells from both Jadrick and myself, and Percy's deadly jaws and Light's equally deadly hands and feet we could only bring the huge giants down with a concentrated effort.

We also discovered that trolls really did keep regenerating, and only fire or acid truly killed them. Jadrick used his magic to give Percy a fearsome fire breath to ensure the trolls' demise after we had beaten them into unrecognizable pulp. Lacking Fiona to handle healing, I was forced to take her wand of curing out and try my hand at it. Despite all my training and practice, in actual use I found the wand complex and tricky; I could only get it to work about one time in three.

Having defeeated the first group of trolls, we moved into their stronghold cautiously. The passageway to the south led upward into the watchtower proper, and held nothing of interest. Light climbed the watchtower itself and discovered it held a commanding view of the hills and the path climbing to the stronghold. Light noticed the strange redheaded woman we had met earlier watching the path. She noticed Light, looked at him, and once again became invisible. Seeing no profit in pursuing her and having more pressing concerns, we returned to our exploration of the troll lair.

The architecture of this place was crude and sized for trolls more than for humans, with tall ceilings and wide passages. Another corridor led west, deeper into the troll stronghold. Jadrick lit some magical lights to provide illumination, and we ventured forth. Passage west was short and opened into a side room to the north, which seemed to have been set as a hound kennel. We found a blood-covered stone table with a headless humanoid corpse on top of it, as well as ancient carvings defaced with crude graffiti. From the room with the stone table, another passage led south again and ended in a storeroom, filled with stores, shelves, barrels and supplies. I realized the mundane items stored here, such as bolts of cloth, construction material, food, tools and similar, we all likely the result of troll raids into our colony; we decided to return later with proper wagons to retrieve the materials as they were likely worth thousands of gold coins taken all together.

At the back of the storeroom, another corridor led deeper undeground. This passage was roughly hewn from rock and entered a cave system just behind it. As soon as we entered the cave, a two-headed trollish monstrosity attacked us, both heads roaring at us menacingly.. I identified the two-headed troll as a nagrundi; a variant of troll known for even greater strength and viciousness than ordinary trolls. It wore an unusual amulet stretched tight around both necks; I sensed magic from it.

The fight with the nagrundi drew more trolls from deeper within the caves and they approached, attacking us on sight. Fighting grew confused and desperate; I was forced to use the curing wand almost constantly. I also constructed some illusionary walls from the dweomer of silent image, to keep the trolls at bay while we pelted them with arrows and spells. There were two more standard trolls, one rock-skinned troll that others called Kagadd, and the troll chieftain himself, Hagrulka. The troll chieftain was imposing and deadly, wielding a large morningstar and wearing a protective armor of hides.

We came as close to complete defeat as we had ever been in this battle. If not for Jadrick's magical pits, and my illusionary walls, the trolls would have pounded us into pulp within moments. As it were, it was Valter's unceasing barrage of deadly arrows which brought them down, one by one, and Jadrick's summoned fire elementals finished them off with burning, slamming attacks. I used up the entirety of my spells, most of the charges in my magic missile wand, as well the whole of the curing wand. At the very end, when we had the chieftain Hagrulka cornered in the final cave chamber, Hagrulka managed to pierce my illusionary wall and ran up and brought down Valter in a series of blows so potent he nearly snapped Valter's neck and threw him some fifteen feet into a cave wall.

I rushed to Valter and barely managed to revive him with a powerful curing potion, while Light and Jadrick's summoned fire elementals somehow fended off Hagrulka, the troll chieftain, for a few brief moments. At last, Valter revived and brought Hagrulka down with several well placed shots.

We had another frightening moment then, as the rock troll lumbered into view as soon as we had finished off the troll chieftain – he had regenerated and fire failed to finish him off! Luckily, he was severely injured, and we brought him down again, and spent several anxious minutes beating on the twitching rocky flesh until Jadrick finally managed magic to have Percy breathe acid over the creature; that finally managed to kill it.

None of us escaped the battle unscathed; we were all injured and a few of us were on the edge of collapse.We rested briefly and then examined the caves more closely, as the fighting scarcely let us look around. The caves were divided into four areas.

One area housed Hagrulka's throne and bedroom. It had a 30 foot ceiling, and there was a wagon with wheels removed at the eastern wall. There were smelly furs strewn all around and a single barrel, as well as a crude throne seated at the northern wall, with a large bearskin on the floor. A wooden chest sat in the back of this room, apparently locked.

Another area was a sleeping room, with pallets for chieftain's troll companions, located in a smaller cavern at the north end of the cave system. This chamber held mostly branches, leaves, and smelly uncured hides trolls used as sleeping pallets.

The area just past the tunnel where we encountered the nagrundi troll was apparently the larder – air there was cooler, with the stench of decaying flesh heavy in air. Along the walls, carcasses of dozens of beasts from foxes to wolves to deer to elk to horses and a skinned bear hung from crude iron hooks.
Southern portion of the larder held a grizzly collection of corpses, bodies of humanoids; most cadavers had been decapitated.

Finally, the tunnel leading into the caves had a short branch going south, ending in a natural cavern with stalagmites and gnawed bones littering the floor. The far end of this cave held a collection of humanoid heads around a circle drawn on the floor in dried blood. We believed this area to be some sort of a ritual room, where trolls conducted foul worship of their wicked gods.

We took our time patching our wounds as best as we could, but again sorely missed Fiona and her healing spells and skills. Ransacking the troll stronghold from top to bottom proved fruitful; we looted the bodies of our fallen foes and checked every nook and cranny for possible treasure. I filled one waterskin with trollish blood, as one of the alchemists in Dreidendorf expressed an interest in it. Jadrick and I used the detect magic cantrip to examine every item we found.

Troll leader's corpse yielded a magical large darkwood morningstar, enchanted to thunder in battle and magically sharp. Hargulka's hide armor proved magical as well, with minor spells improving its protection. We found a rusty key on the troll leader, which we used to unlock the wooden chest in his throne chamber.

The two-headed troll, the nagrundi, had what we identified as an amulet of natural armor around its neck, the enchantment on its being moderate in power. Light naturally expressed a great interest in this amulet; he is likely to claim it as his part of the treasure.

The troll sleeping chamber had a hidden niche, which was full of silver and gold coins, practically a small hoard in and of itself, worth aproximately a thousand gold pieces. There we also found a magical dusty rose ioun stone, which gives a mystical protection from blows to its owner. One of the walls held a large hide, upon which we discovered a crude map of the Green Belt. Several locations, including the troll lair and our capital, Dreidendorf, were shown on this map, as well as our other settlements. Some were marked with arrows and a mark of crossed staves, likely showing planned raids and routes of attack.

I quaffed a potion of comprehending languages, in order to better read the map, which had writing in the giant language on it. Studying the map after drinking the potion helped me understand that the trolls were definitely attacking civilized areas, but had specific warnings on the map against attacking areas marked as “fae”. I copied down the map as best as I could with all the markings and areas marked to contain faery creatures. While I could understand trolls' reluctance to attack faerie creatures, some of which could potentially be very dangerous, the fact the warning was clearly written on the map was curious.

After looking over the map, we examined the contents of the chieftain's locked chest, which we opened with the rusty key found on his body. It contained a small statue of a dragon made of exotic wood, a gold necklace with a jade pendant, several minor jewelry pieces, five medium quality gemstones, three bottles of fine wine, an engraved silver tankard, and another small fortune in various coins.

After thoroughly burning all the troll bodies to ashes, we camped out in the entrance chamber as it was the cleanest and the stench there wasn't as pronounced as in the rest of the troll lair. We shared a bottle of fine wine amongst ourselves and congratulated each other on our victory over the trolls, and then went to sleep, Light volunteering to keep guard over us.

29 Neth, AR 4712

Despite our unease over sleeping in the troll stronghold, nothing disturbed our slumber that night. The following day we traveled down the rocky path to our horses, and finding nothing amiss, started on our long journey back to Dreidendorf.

Light got sick on our trip back; he was weak and fatigued, and he burned up with fever. From what we could tell, he had contracted what is called the bloodfire fever from one of the trollhounds. He eventually recovered just before we reached our capital, but his illness and the need to forage for food slowed us down considerably. In the end, it took us almost a week to return to civilization. The sight which greeted us upon returning to Dreidendorf was not encouraging, however.

Smashed buildings, slaughtered livestock, people milling in shock; these were all we saw and more. Briefly stopping to talk to survivors on our way into town, we discovered that the town was attacked by a monster of immense size the day before; it was part bear and part owl. It killed dozens of people and then lumbered off into the hills to the south. We quickly confirmed it was in fact an owlbear, a creature that we had encountered once before. Fiona rushed to our side, telling of the attack and explaining that she was off in the woods to the west when the attack happened.

The size of this specimen was in some doubt as both Fiona and myself knew owlbears did not grow to such immense size, but many townsfolk and the surviving constables confirmed the reports. We surveyed the damage and discovered one tower and a better part of the walls of Fort Chomper had been brought down in the beast's ramapge; apparently our secure refuge proved less than secure. An entire block of houses was practically flattened as the giant owlbear prowled the town, and the herbalist's shop was closed because of structural damage.

The attack was entirely strange; owlbears are animals and don't venture into towns or civilized areas. They attack for food and there wasn't any sense in this attack. Furthermore, our town guard proved completely useless in defense against such a threat – they mostly scattered without a fight, and I could not blame them. A monster of that size and ferocity would falter even the courage of stout adventurers; and while buildings can be rebuilt, lives hardly can be. No, their decision to flee was appropriate if cowardly.

We resolved to work on our defenses first and foremost; damage needed to be repaired, a new town guard organized, and only after we had ensured the safety of our citizens could we venture out and track down this monster and destroy it. I sent messengers and criers calling for able warriors and experts to enter my personal service, as I could no longer delay forming an elite guard force, one to protect the town and Fort Chomper, our seat of government. Jadrick promised to try and recruit a force of his own, and sent out runners as well.

One thing is certain – we had neglected our defenses for far too long; this was a wake-up call that we cannot afford to ignore. From this point on, we will work on protecting our citizens first and exploring afterwards.

This journal entry covers fight with the monstrous owlbear during game session in late August.

30 Neth, AR 4712

Yesterday morning, we had arrived to a devastated Dreidendorf; the devastation and death toll were considerable. While we did assist with the recovery and rescue efforts, we had to concentrate our efforts on finding and destroying this monstrous owlbear before it struck again. Jadrick introduced us to Trill, a human bard who had been living in the city for over a year, singing ballads and performing for the citizenry. According to Jadrick, Trill was no mean fighter himself and his songs carried strong magic, so on Jadrick's advice, we invited Trill to accompany us into upcoming battle with the monstrous owlbear. Trill seemed almost excited at the prospect, despite the grave danger he was in.

The town constabulary was busy helping with the rescue efforts and rebuilding the town, and they had proven ineffective in battle against the monster, so we discarded the notion of bringing them with us. With no time to prepare further, we rode quickly to the city limits, when a blonde elven woman riding on a white horse hailed us. She wore a short dress of blue and gold, embroidered with elven motifs, as well as tall boots and gloves, similarly colored in blue, gold and white. She introduced herself as Saffron Finch and asked for me, Maximillian Dreiden, by name.

As I confirmed my identity, she told me she was responding to the runners I had sent out asking for apprentices, and that she was a wizard of some ability and willing to apprentice in my service. Seizing the opportunity to augment our arcane power as a group, I interviewed the young elf maid on the spot. She proved her grasp of arcane matters and spellcraft almost equal to mine, and quickly demonstrated her magical ability with a few choice cantrips, such as creating light and a splash of magical acid. I intoduced my companions and explained that we were on an urgent quest to slay a monstrous owlbear menacing the city and that if Saffron agreed to be my apprentice, she'd be riding into danger with us from the very beginning of her apprenticeship.

We discussed the matter for a minute or two, and Saffron asked about this monster, while my companions probed Saffron and her background. She was apparently from Hymbria, a secluded elven realm in the southern River Kingdoms, and she was not much past a century of age, which for elves is apparently young adulthood. Having studied with the wizards of her realm for a while, she decided to venture outside Hymria and seek to study under more accomplished mages in the area. My offer of apprenticeship reached her while traveling and she decided it was worth investigating.

There wasn't really enough time to discuss Saffron's whole history; and I decided impulsively to take a risk and trust her. Fiona seemed to like her and that was enough to decide me in any case. My other companions were largely indifferent, focused as they were on our quest. On Saffron's advice, we stopped by the alchemist's shop and purchased some alchemical compounds for her; apparently she knows of a way to improve the potency of certain spells if specific alchemical compunds are used as reagents. I will have to spend some time investigating this idea once we return as it seems very useful. I also purchased saddlebags for Saffron at Dreidendorf's general store since there was no more space left in her pack. We also managed to find a fully charged wand of light curing on sale at the caster's tower, which we purchased as a replacement for the one carried by Fiona which I had used up in the battle with the trolls earlier. Given it would have been unfair to ask Fiona to pay for a wand she hardly benefited from, I paid her share of the cost myself, as well as my own.

These preparations took us a precious hour or two, after which we hastened to follow the owlbear's trail. The freezing temperatures forced us all to don heavy winter clothing. Even so, Fiona assisted us with a communal spell to resist the elements, which kept us warm. The owlbear, estimated at about 15 feet tall by Fiona, and wearing strange barding (another clue indicating it was no mere wild beast), left a completely obvious trail of devastation leading southeast. We followed the trail across the bridge over Shrike river, and then deeper into the barren hills overlooking Tuskwater lake.

Late in the afternoon, we reached the trail's end – it led directly to a dark gaping hole in the side of a hillock, facing north. Earth in front of the cave had been trampled flat. Shattered trees marked with powerful claws, tufts of dark fur and huge feathers littered the ground. It was obvious we had found the monster's lair. I immediately created a magical armor for myself and my new apprentice, Saffron, and also provided magical light for anyone who wished for it. While Light declined my offer of mage armor spell cast on him, he did accept my dweomer of protection from evil instead. We were all amazed as Fiona transformed herself into a mostly transparent small vortex of swirling air, becoming an air elemental. Apparently, it was a power she had recently mastered. Seeing the possible problem in communication, I used a message cantrip to allow us all to silently communicate, including Fiona in her new form.

We approached the cave mouth, and notied it widened into a big cavern filled with carrion and offal. A bewildering variety of mold and fungy grew on the walls and the floor of the cavern, some as big as myself. Countless insects fed on mounds of waste, and another tunnel sloped downward and south, deeper into the cave. Fiona called for a halt, recognizing the large mushrooms inside as shriekers. Apparently, these mushrooms emit a loud shriek if approached to about 10 feet, or even if struck by a weapon. Fiona also noted violet fungus deeper inside the cave, which are very dangerous as they have a terribly ability to rot flesh straight to the bone if they hit with their four tentacles.

Since we had no desire to simply charge inside, I looked around for another entrance or passage into this cave. Walking around the hillock, I moved west and found a tiny narrow tunnel leading into the cliffside, no more than a hundred feet from the main entrance. Peering inside, I saw rotten leaves and vegetation filling the small irregular cavern. Water dripped from slimy veins and roots burrowing from the ceiling, collecting into puddles on the uneven floor. I could barely glimpse two openings in this small cave, one leading into the main cavern, and one leading deeper into the hillside.

Percy, Jadrick's eidolon, charged into this small cavern and was promptly assaulted by a mound of rotten leaves, which I recognized as a shambling mound. While Percy dispatched the shambling mound with ease, a swarm of centepedes erupted from the mound's body and attacked us immediately afterwards. My stalwart companions hacked and bit and slammed into the seemingly endless swarm of creatures, but I had little choice but to risk casting an untested spell, one that in theory should have eliminated the swarm entirely with only one casting.

I concentrated, took a deep breath, and unleashed the magic within me. A small reddish bead formed in the palm of my hand, and I carefully threw it at the swarm. The bead struck true and erupted into a big fireball, blasting and burning the swarm while also scouring the rock and detonating very loudly. Within the enclosed space of the small cave, the explosion killed many of the centepedes, but more rushed forth from the ground beneath us. While glad that the fireball dweomer worked as advertised, I was chargrined that my first successful casting was so weak it failed to destroy a swarm of insects. I tried again, with more success, and the second detonation destroyed the remaining centepedes handily.

Any hope of surprising the owlbear and other inhabitants of the cave was gone with my twin fireballs detonating so loudly that my ears were still ringing a minute after. Light ran forward down the small tunnel going south, and I followed, while the rest of the party barged through the opening into the main cave. Valter was first inside the main cave, and engaged the violet fungi in battle. The narrow tunnel Light and I were following sloped down and had a ceiling of mere 5 feet, forcing both of us to hunch down. As Light was rushing forward, the floor underneath him suddenly gave way, revealing a deep pit covering the whole of the tunnel floor and barring our progress.

Light barely managed to stop himself from falling into the pit, and we both discovered the bottom of the pit ringed with a huge mass of green slime. Green slime is another deadly cave hazard, as it devours metal, flesh, wood, and almost anything else it touches. The tunnel continued past the pit which was about forty feet deep. Once past the pit, the tunnel seemed to open into another large cavern, but both Light and myself decided to rejoin the rest of our party instead of trying to jump across.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party successfully defeated the violet fungus, although Trill the bard was struck once and was visibly weakened by it. While passing back through the small cavern with the shambling mound corpse, I found a wand hidden in the body of the mound; I gathered it for our loot bag. We later identified the wand as lightning bolt wand; and it had more than 30 charges left in it. I also collected some sap from the corpse of the shambling mound, as there was an alchemist in town who was willing to pay well for it.

Fiona, being in the form of a small air elemental and thus able to fly, scouted ahead past the pit with green slime and discovered the huge cavern there to be the same as the one connected with the entry cavern. The ceiling vaulted 50 feet into the darkness, while murky pool of water resided in the narrow portion of the cavern, in front of a passage near the green slime pit. A jumbled pile of bones and feathers sat piled against the southern wall. The shrieker mushrooms apparently guarded both the main cavern entryway as well as the passage between the entry cavern and the huge cavern south of it. There was a passage going southeast, across from the small irregular cavern with the shambling mound.

We searched briefly through the entryway cavern and found humanoid remains containing some rusted and battered armor and weapons, a few lockpicks, and also a fine warhammer, some silversheen in a vial, and a pile of gold coins. Percy then moved into the passage going southeast, following a natural tunnel into a narrow cave. Thick sheets of webbing filled the tunnel, and half a dozen dog-sized spiders attacked us in that instant.

As we fought the spiders, suddenly the shriekers in the entryway cave started shrieking. In moments, a roar erupted from the huge cavern south of the entry cave, and the monstrous owlbear we had searched for charged us. The fight against the owlbear and the spiders was brief but difficult. The spiders poisoned Light; Percy managed to finish them off and rush back to fight the owlbear. Saffron proved her worth and burned the owlbear with rays of scorching light, firing twin rays from her hands twice. Valter was his usual competent self and kept hitting the owlbear with arrows, while Trill the bard sang an uplifting battle chanty which helped us keep our courage.

In the end, the confined space and a murderous barrage of magic and arrows did in the owlbear, which slumped to the ground, dead. As Fiona had reported earlier, we found that the owlbear was wearing well-made studded leather barding, which we removed from the corpse. We then searched the huge cavern that was the owlbear's lair. A strange buzzing filled the lair; there was a wide ledge, about ten feet high and equally wide, at the southern end, and the buzzing came from that direction. In the middle of the cavern sat a huge carcass of a female owlbear, surrounded by half a dozen humanoid bodies. Looking around the female owlbear carcass, we found two owlbear cubs, alive and clinging to the body of their dead mother, calling out in strange crying noises.

Light and Fiona claimed the owlbear cubs, likely wanting to raise them as pets. While I questioned the idea as somewhat optimistic and dangerous, I have no real skill with animals so I left it to their judgment. Using our detect magic cantrip and searching carefully, we found a map of Greenbelt with our capital and owlbear lair marked, on a body of a large man, likely a barbarian of some kind. On the same body, we discovered a magical chain shirt of moderate protective enchantment, and a longsword with minor magical enchantment of sharpness. The barbarian also had on his hand a magical ring of bestial friendship; however, careful examination of the ring by myself, Jadrick, Fiona and Saffron indicated the ring was cursed.

As best as we could determine, the ring had a bit of hair woven into it. It would charm a monster for a few minutes, but then it would strike it with a curse of rage, forcing an immense hatred for the wearer of the ring onto the beast. If the beast killed the wearer of the ring, it would continue to harbor a loathing of civilization, forcing it to wander around and attack settlements until it was destroyed. While with this new information we could guess that what had happened here was an attempt to tame an owlbear gone disastrously wrong due to a cursed magical item, I still had to wonder if there was an unseen hand directing all these seemingly unrelated attacks.

Searching through the owlbear's lair, we found a number of useful items, strewn around or next to the bodies of their now deceased owners. There were twin masterwork throwing axes, two magical potions of speaking with animals, a jar of magic restorative ointment, some antitoxin in a vial, a couple of smokesticks, a tanglefoot bag, some thunderstones, and assorted coins of all sizes. The humanoid corpses in the lair itself wore studden leather armor and light wooden shield, as well as daggers, longswords, shortbows and many arrows, most of which were salvageable.

Meanwhile, Light investigated the buzzing noise, and climbed up onto the ledge in the owlbear's lair. There he found a chimney leading up, and so he climbed up. After climbing some twenty feet up, he found himself in another cave. Thousands of tiny spiders scurried along strands of sticky webbing draping walls of the cavern Light found, and there were several large cocoons present. The cave opened onto a ledge overlooking the southern cliff face, with two smaller caves to the east and west.

As Light investigated this new location, two ettercaps, spider-like humanoids with strange eyes, and many dog-sized spiders attacked him. We heard Light's cry for help below and rushed to assist him. I used the dweomer of levitation to move up the chimney quickly, while Fiona transformed herself once again into an air elemental and simply flew up. The ettercaps and the spiders weren't difficult to kill once we all managed to reach the upper cavern; Light was injured but not severely.

We searched the newly found upper cavern as well, and found some interesting bits of gear among the cocoons and refuse from the ettercaps' victims: a serviceable suit of leather armor, magical gloves of swimming and climbing, and a pouch containing a large amethyst gem. Afterwards, we gathered all the bodies, from our foes and humanoids that had perished in this cave, and fed them to the green slime. The corpse of the huge owlbear was too big to fit into the green slime pit, so we burned it in a hastily assembled pyre instead.

By this time, night had fallen and we camped just outside the owlbear caves, since the heavy stench made camping inside unbearable. The night was peaceful, and this morning we rode back to Dreidendorf, reaching the town proper by late afternoon. Trill composed a heroic ballad about our quest and sang it practically incessantly on the way back, practicing for the homecoming. Admittedly, as he told our story of the owlbear slaying and sang his song, the crowd in the city went wild. Once the news the monster owlbear was dead and slain spread, the citizens gathered in a spontaneous celebration. I didn't stick around for long speeches; I was tired and exhausted from the long ride and the fighting. Saffron is lodging at the local inn for the moment – I will have to arrange quarters for her here in Fort Chomper as soon as possible.

Continuing from last post, in the same game session we ran through about half a year of kingdom building.

18 Kuthona, AR 4712

In the weeks following our triumphant return from slaying the monstrous owlbear that had ravaged Dreidendorf, winter came forward with a vengeance. Heavy snows and freezing winds prevented most outdoor activities, and only through diligent efforts of our builders and masons was the damage from the owlbear attack repaired before the worst of snow arrived. I arranged for Saffron, my new apprentice, to settle down in chambers in Fort Chomper close to my own.

We started her training and I discovered her to be bright and clever, if a bit unfocused in her studies. Over the past few weeks, Saffron has worked hard to master all of the dweomers known to me, even the cantrips, and she has managed to transcribe most into her spellbook, save a few more complex dweomers of the higher circles of magic. She promised to continue working on the remaining spells and to assist me with my own research as she can; she is almost as competent in the art of spellcraft as I am. Given that she has shown me skill in crafting small magical items, I will be working closely with her and Jadrick to craft a few magical items that would help in our adventuring. We are still in the process of setting up a proper workshop for Saffron here in the castle, but as soon as that is arranged, she will start with her crafting.

The last week has been a bitter-sweet one for me; having long considered it, I decided to summon another familiar for myself. My faithful rat Morn has served me long and without reward, but the nature of the foes we faced in recent times has only driven home the terrible danger Morn has been in. I refuse to force my small but courageous friend to risk his life any longer – thus I endeavored to summon a more powerful being into my familiar service. After long discussions with Morn, he confirmed that he felt frightened and a bit useless in our recent battles, where even a casual swipe of a foe would have surely ended his life. Morn is well aware what dismissing him from my service will mean; his hard-won and bright mind will swiftly fade away and he will once more become that common rat that he was before I bonded with him.

That he is willing to essentially lose his sentience to help me speaks a great deal about his valor. I spent several lazy afternoons just playing with him and feeding him walnuts and carrots, his favorite foods. In the end, I promised him that should I find a way to restore him to his mental faculties, that I will pursue it until success and showed him the cage and bedding I had prepared for his future life. I even assigned a young maid in the castle with his care and feeding, during such times as I will adventure away from Dreidendorf. I cried a little as I released the bond between us, as I felt and saw the intelligence fade from Morn's eyes and as he settled down into sleep in his cage. Morn has been my faithful companion since almost the time I had learned of my potential in magic, and I will miss him greatly.

I spent a few days listlessly wandering the city and simply listening to townsfolk gossip in the taverns. I finally gathered my wits yesterday and returned to the castle where I performed the familiar summoning ceremony. I chanted and burned the right herbs for hours, with nothing to show for it. The process itself is rarely straightforward as some mages claim; in essence the magus summoning a familiar casts an echo of their essence into the magical ether and by some mystical means an appropriate familiar responds. After spending most of the day chanting, I finally decided no summons would be answered today, and walked out to the battlements to clear my mind.

The skies had cleared earlier after it snowed for days, and the stars were just starting to appear in the darkened skies, when I heard a sweet song drifting over the rooftops, coming from one of the castle towers. Drawn by the music, I walked over to the tower, where I saw a beautiful woman with light brown hair, no taller than a child, but perfectly proportioned, with butterfly wings and pointed ears, wearing nothing but a long silky dress, and sitting on the tower battlement and singing. She winked at me and I felt something snap into place within my being. Bewildered, I realized that a familiar bond had come into being between me and the apparent fae singing from the tower.

She sang for a few minutes more, then lifted into the air and flew swiftly up, only to land down on my shoulder, hug me, and then fly back to the battlement. She introduced herself as Belle, and said she had felt my sadness across the land and was drawn to me somehow. I thought her some kind of fae, but when I inquired, she explained herself to be what is called a lyrakien azata, which are a kind of goodly spirits from the upper planes. I admitted to knowing little of these beings, so Belle took to herself to educate me.

We moved down into my quarters as although Belle seemed perfectly comfortable in her scanty clothes in the cold, I was not. She seemed aware that I had summoned her as my familiar and perfectly satisfied with the idea, and was very energetic and curious. She had so many questions for me; who I was, where I had come from, how I could send the call to her, what this city was, and many more. I spent several hours deep in conversation with her and explained to her my situation, the circumstances of my life here in the Greenbelt, and how Amalur was founded as well as more recent events. I spoke of my companions, friends and enemies, of battles we fought and victories and defeats we had had.

Belle told me of her life as a spirit on the upper planes, and how she would on occasion come to our world through portals leading to and fro; and how she is very curious about mortals and our music and singing and crafts. She wants to see the beautiful places of the land, the hidden grottoes and valleys and mountains and forests, and she said her kind were kin to fae but not fae themselves. I offered to take her on a tour of the sights in Amalur and nearby territory, and she eargely accepted. The tour, however, will have to wait until the winter passes.

After staying up for nearly half the night, I went to bed, with Belle huddling into sleep around my shoulders and back. The next morning I introduced Belle to my companions; their reactions were mixed. Belle took to them easily, showing her curious side and asked many questions. I spent the day introducing Belle to Dreidendorf and the castle, showing her how to get around, and answering her many queries. I suspect the days to come will be interesting indeed, in the company of this irrepressible fae spirit.

23 Kuthona, AR 4712

The business of government does not stop for bad weather, and neither did our assorted duties in Amalur's rulership. After some discussion, we agreed to replace Lily Teskerten with Trill, Jadrick's bard friend, as Minister of Justice. Lily was somewhat relieved as the dispension of justice required a stern and even disposition, foreign to her sunny temperament. As Trill showed a great familiarity with many laws across the land and a discerning judgment, we hope he will prove to be a worthy replacement for the ministerial post. Otherwise, Saffron, my apprentice, took the post of the Minister of Information from Chief Soothscale, as he asked to be relieved since his kobold kin repeatedly asked that he devote more time to their needs. I hope Saffron will learn to handle the business of spying well.

The colony expanded into a new settlement called Tatzlford; with the threat of the forest drake roaming nearby woods gone, the settlers there worked hard on building a town at the ford. We assisted their efforts by building a road through to forest leading to Amalur and claiming the nearby areas. Also, after months of deliberation, the mages of our capital pooled their resources together and with our assistance, opened a real magic shop right in the Newton district. The trade in magic items should greatly increase with a central point for sales and storage. We immediately noticed the improvement in our tax receipts as several valuable magical wares were sold soon thereafter, including a magically strengthened club, a potion of cat's grace, and a staff of charm dweomers.

We have also sent an expedition, accompanied by a troop of our town guards, to the former troll lair. The expedition took wagons with them and brought back the various goods and building materials the trolls had looted during their raids, and these were welcomed back in Amalur as sorely needed for our planned expansion next year. The demise of the trolls and the destruction of the owlbear monster seem to have removed all known threats from Amalur, so the citizenry remained largely calm. The preparations for the celebration of a new year are proceeding smoothly. We hope to usher in a new season and a new year with peace, prosperity, and much feasting.

11 Abadius, AR 4713

I can scarcely believe we are in a new year already. Despite the continuing bad weather, we started our expansion plans on a solid footing. Amalur claimed more farmland in the plains in the northwest, expanding our road network in that direction, as well as bringing proper roadwork to the area at the confluence of Thorn and Shrike rivers. Our masons completed a strong castle in the new settlement of Tatzlford, as we strive to work on defenses of all our towns.

The magic shop so recently opened in Dreidendorf has been doing brisk business, with many enchanted objects being bought and sold. Our fees and taxes from the proceeds have been considerable, exceeding the regular taxes and tariffs on trade goods. Jadrick availed himself of the offered magical goods and purchased an enchanted buckler that offers additional protection to the wielder as well as a wand of moderate curing spells. Another curious commissioned enchanted item was sent to Restov; a spiked chain of moderately powerful sharpening enchantment and with a dweomer allowing it to strike ghosts. I wonder if the undead problem in Restov is still a concern and if we should worry about it ourselves.

Saffron, Jadrick and myself are starting work on the first enchanted item to be crafted by her. It is to be a magical haversack with dweomers to lighten the weight of items contained within and to allow for easier access to whatever is inside. We have gathered the necessary materials and the haversack which is to serve as a base for enchanting process. The work will start tomorrow with Saffron doing the bulk of the enchanting, and with Jadrick and myself assisting. I hope our first crafting effort will be a success.

6 Calistril, AR 4713

Calistril's weather proved wintery and unrelenting in its harshness. One blizzard after another struck Amalur, covering the land in snow and forcing everyone to huddle around warm fires indoors. Even my familiar Belle, who had taken to flying outdoors even in the worst of cold days, informed me the swirling snow and raging wind made it hard even for her to maintain flight, so she has stayed indoors with us recently.

As bad as the weather has been near our capital, the blizzards were not as harsh elsewhere. Our builder teams continued the roadwork in the northwest plains, reaching the burial mound of the unknown barbarian our party had found years ago while mapping the plains. Farms and villages will be built there as soon as the weather improves. We also continued our expansion into the hills east of Dreidendorf, with a new road following the Shrike river upward toward its origin.

Amalur's expansion is drawing some concern from the nobles in southern Brevoy; we've heard rumors even the local dukes are now worried Amalur's holdings will overtake their own in size and worth. I would ignore such idle talk, except that I know well the nature of nobles everywhere. They covet what they see and feel a natural right to assert ownership over everything they desire. I fear we may face conflict from them eventually.

20 Calistril, AR 4713

An earthquake struck Amalur a few days ago, causing minor damage in several places. The monument to gnomish conflict in Olegton was, however, toppled and destroyed. We will have to comission another one as soon as we can. I should also report that Saffron successfully enchanted the haversack we were working on. I tested it this morning and it feels as light as any empty backpack regardless of the true weight of items inside. With this success under our belt, Saffron and I will consider more magic items to craft in the future.

Fortunately for us, the earthquake did not interrupt the flow of commerce passing through Amalur. Tax receipts for Calistril were higher than expected, and magic item trade remains brisk. Peace reigns across our lands and there are no rumors of trouble. I am going to start organizing a personal guard or a militia soon; the idea has lain in the back of my mind for a while but somehow I never got around to doing it.

16 Pharast, AR 4713

The winter is slowly receding with the return of warmth and the melting of the snows. Improving weather has allowed our surveyors and builders to work longer hours, and thus we have claimed a large stretch of the hills northwest of the Shrike river, enclosing a large area in Amalur's heartland. With the completion of roads through these hills, settlement can now start and already farmers are building homesteads and barns to populate the region.

The monument to gnomes fighting, built a few years ago in Olegton to commemorate the infamous conflict between Jadrick and Jubilost, the two leaders of our gnomish community, was rebuilt after the earthquake toppled it last month. I was present at the ceremony re-dedicating it; the crowd was cheerful and expectant, and the applause after I cut the ribbon presenting the rebuilt monument was strong.

As we had put a major effort and coin into our expansion, our corps of dedicated masons and builders and craftsmen has increased to the point that we can now bring a larger area to civilization than before each month. I congratulated Jadrick, our Minister of the Interior, for it was his hard work that helped achieve this milestone in civilizing the Greenbelt. We also completed a pier in Fort Chomper district in Dreidendorf, as well as built a block of new housing and a few general stores in Tatzlford. It is our intent to develop the river trade along our network of navigable rivers, and the pier in our capital is the first step in that direction.

The magic shop in Dreidendorf recently offered a lyre of building for sale; it is a very interesting instrument of magic, whose dweomer allows it to replace skilled masons and builders in building large buildings, for as long as the lyre can be played with some skill. I am very keen to purchase it, but at the moment lack the funds to do so. I may request to reserve this lyre for a future purchase if the magic shop owners are willing. At some point in the future I will want to build a personal abode, and this item sounds like something I would need for construction efforts.

12 Gozran, AR 4713

I have spent quite a bit of time in conversation with Belle over the past few months, now that the administration of Amalur is moving along efficiently. Belle has told me tales of the planes she had traveled and the beings she had encountered, and I have made careful notes of the information she had shared in case we run into such beings ourselves. Belle has also traveled over the Stolen Lands in the past and knows a bit about the local hazards and inhabitants. This knowledge is sure to come in handy in the future. She has also explained the extent of her own abilities, and I have to admit her magical powers are interesting and useful.

Belle can unleash a burst of starlight, which hurts evil foes more than others, around herself every so often. While this burst of magical light is only about as powerful as one of my force bolts, she can unleash it at any time and seemingly without limit. She also has a strange sense, by which she can detect evil beings nearby, but only if she concentrates for a few moments. She knows several languages unfamiliar to me, and she speaks the so-called Truespeech, which is a magical type of communication allowing talking to any being, anywhere, similarly to the arcane dweomer of tongues. She can also detect magic, create minor illusions, magically daze opponents, cast a confusion dweomer, and even commune with more powerful spirits from her plane to receive answers to yes or no questions, about once per week.

Her list of powers is impressive enough, but she can also magically cure wounds to a small degree and cure the effects of tiredness and exhaustion by singing to her friends and comrades. I am sure she will prove her worth once we start exploring again. In the meantime, I aim to devise a list of questions to ask of the upper planar spirits in regular intervals, in hopes of gaining some forewarning of impending attacks and the like.

Amalur's expansion efforts continued this past month. More farmland was cleared in the plains in the northwest, as well as a hilly area along the upper Shrike river, and and a tract of the forest northwest of Dreidendorf, along the banks of the Skunk river. We contined expanding our road network in the newly claimed areas as well. Earlier this month, there was a minor outbreak of a highly infectious disease in Olegton, called the scarlet fever. We intervened swiftly, and between Fiona's magical cures and the work of other healers and adepts, we headed off a major epidemic. While half a dozen folks died, we saved many more. I believe this is a reminder that health of our citizens is an important consideration for our expansion. We will need more healers, temples, clinics and hospitals if we are to prosper.

22 Desnus, AR 4713

Spring is in full swing and the warm weather favors the crops. The annual celebration of Amalur's founding is near, and we have claimed several key landmark areas in honor of the upcoming celebration: a notable hill area southeast of the capital, and two important forests north of Tatzlford. Our roads and farms continue to expand everywhere and particularly in the Amalur's heartland between Dreidendorf and Olegton and between Thorn and Shrike riversheds.

An expanded construction program helped us build a new town hall, a town garrison, a jail and a granary here in Dreidendorf, while many new settlers arrived in Tatzlford and two new housing blocks were built to accommodate them. Our treasury is doing well and taxes are flowing into our coffers. Saffron and I are starting work on another magical item – a headband that improves the wearer's charisma by a small amount. The headband is meant for myself mostly as it would help with my diplomatic efforts. I've discovered that Belle is somehow sharing a part of my skill in magic and spellcraft, so she will assist in the making of the headband as well. I have little doubt that with such talent assembled, the crafting will go smoothly and without difficulty.

10 Sarenith, AR 4713

With the Amalur's founding celebration behind us, we are stepping up our efforts to expand in the north as the plains close to Brevoy border are ideal farming terrain. Our builders have finished the roads and houses in the area, and we have also built military barracks and a watchtower in Olegton and Dreidendorf each. It is always a good idea to invest in defenses, and these buildings should help our town guard and militia be more effective.

Magical item sales continue to do well, as our mages sold a wand of spike growth dweomer, a rapier enchanted to pierce flesh and armor, and an enchanted starknife this month. Our state coffers are swelling with coin from taxes and tariffs, and trade continues to expand along our roads. Fiona, in her position as our Minister of Religious Affairs, has suggested that we build a grand cathedral as an open structure devoted to all goodly religions, and we have ratified her proposal. We are still discussing the location of this cathedral to be, but the funds have already been allocated and building materials are being assembled.

20 Erastus, AR 4713

The Tatzlford cathedral was officially opened for the public today. The entire Council of Ministers assembled for the ceremony. We chose Tatzlford for its large open spaces and suitable solid ground for the construction of the cathedral itself. The cathedral is dedicated to Desna and Shelyn for the moment, but as clerics of other well-intentioned religions arrive, we will construct proper shrines inside the cathedral for other deities as well. Fiona and Melianse hope that this edifice will bring peace to the land and foster better understanding between adherents of different religions. I can only hope this will be the case.

In a somewhat belated move related to our founding celebrations, I have authorized an expansion of our program of promotion for the colony. More grants will be given to new colonists, and additional support offered for craftsmen and artisans wishing to become citizens. With our large territorial expansion recently, we are short of people in several areas and will need to attract more settlers.

A chain shirt made of mithril metal was offered for sale recently in Olegton of all places. The shirt has no magic placed on it, but it is valuable for the metal itself, said to be very light and as strong as steel, while helping reduce the difficulty of moving and even casting spells in armor. I should likely mention this to Jadrick even if he already knows about it – he might benefit from such a mithril shirt considerably, if we can afford to purchase it.

I am looking forward to a peaceful summer and calm growing season. There is also the issue of trying to craft a few more magical items through Saffron and the matter of her continuing apprenticeship. Either way, I expect to be fully occupied with domestic matters for a while.

This is the journal from our game session held on September 8th, 2012. Our colony grew a bit and we dealt with a lizardfolk raid.

11 Arodus, AR 4713

The past month has been peaceful, with few events of note. Settlements were opened in two separate areas southeast of our capital, along one of the many rivers crossing the hills in that region. Our engineers completed the roads leading through the hills and helped construct houses and farms in suitable valleys.

Construction continued in Tatzlford with the completion of the Tatzlford Academy, another institution of learning and knowledge. Scholars from the area and further from River Kingdoms are flocking to learn from a variety of teachers, instructors, and sages now residing in the town. I will be visiting the place myself shortly along with Saffron, my apprentice, and Belle, my azata familiar. They are both keen on studying a number of topics of their interest, and I admit to being intrigued by the prospect of discussing some more exotic areas of magical theory with a few of the resident mages.

It should be noted that Amalur has become the center of magical trades in the northern River Kingdoms in these past few years. With generous subsidies and several resident mages of some skill, we've attracted mystics, master craftsmen, wizards, witches, and all manner of merchants plying the trade in magical items. There are now several competing shops and other venues where an interested buyer can purchase all manner of enchanted objects, from trivial to mighty. I believe we should continue to pursue our open-door policy on mages and their settlement in the colony as we have benefited greatly from their presence.

19 Rova, AR 4713

Pleasant weather continues with this year's harvest being at hand. Amalur is still expanding its borders, with two forested areas claimed recently, west and south of Dreidendorf, along Duskwater lake. The growing prosperity of our capital city has led to a construction of several mansions in one particularly opulent neighborhood in the Newton district, as well as another housing block filled with less opulent but serviceable houses. More farms and tiny communities have been started in the hills southeast of the capital, in the drier hilly areas. Our road network has expanded in that direction as well.

I have taken it upon myself to read more about famous adventurers and their exploits, particularly those found in Pathfinder Chronicles. They are a veritable treasure trove of information and knowledge about dungeons, monsters, famous and obscure sites, traps, spells, combat tips, and so on. I suspect there will be a number of ideas I can readily use among those pages.

Last week we celebrated the arrival of a very famous guest to our capital; the temples and shrines welcomed Sir Garald Houghton, a Taldorian knight of great repute and piety. Sir Harald inspected various religious sites in our colony and it is said he approves of our land's commitment to supporting well-intentioned deities and their followers. I did not have the pleasure of meeting the gentleman himself but his arrival generated much excitement in the citizenry and many merchants did good trade with the almost-festival like nature of his visit. We hope to welcome more notable visitors such as Sir Garald in the future, not in the least because his arrival filled our state coffers with goodly amount of coin.

14 Lamashan, AR 4713

It appears that constant expansion of trade has its own dangers. The warm fall has helped caravans travel longer and faster this year and many more traders and merchants are passing through our colony or doing business here. The commerce has grown so much that traders dealing in various forms of contraband, such as drugs, slaves, black magic artifacts, cultural treasures, and stolen items alike, are said to have banded together in Olegton and formed an underground market of sorts. Rumors say anything and everything is available there, at a price.

Normally I would dismiss such talk, but more prominent citizens have started to question our lax trade regulations and have publicly wondered if we should be more stringent in checking the provenance of goods and services traded in our cities. There has been even rumors of organized kidnapping rings, taking children and young girls to sell as slaves in far-off lands. We will need to investigate, of course, but I hope the rumors are false.

Magical trade continued to expand with the opening of another shops for enchanted items, this time in Tatzlford. The shop owners were drawn to the town in hopes of supplying the needs of the local academy and its various experts. A theater has been completed in the Newton district in our capital, and will be holding their first performance tonight. I am looking forward to seeing it and many of our citizens share in my enthusiasm for the arts.

22 Neth, AR 4713

As I expected, the rumors over the alleged black market operating out of Olegton died down after a while, and the colony resumed its accustomed tranquility. We've had our first frost and snowfall earlier this month. It melted soon after falling but the weather is getting colder every day and winter is at our doorstep once again. Despite the frequent rains and cloudy skies, our builders and engineers continue to steadily expand our colony's borders in the south of the Tuskwater lake. We've built roads and farms, bridges and irrigation ditches along three different hill valleys.

This month saw the opening of a new tavern called the Red Rooster in Dreidendorf, as well as a proper inn and several houses in a newly completed street block in Newton district. Another inn, a tavern and some more residences were built in Olegton as well. The word on the street is that a wealthy investor has funded all these endeavors, hoping to build a network of proper inns and taverns as well as suitable houses for renting to visitors. As Amalur welcomes many merchants and craftsmen during the year, this venture might just be successful – only time will tell.

The brisk trade in magic items saw several powerful items sold this month, bringing much needed revenue to our colony's coffers. Somewhat to my chargrin, a strong icestorm struck Dreidendorf yesterday. Initial damage reports say only one block of houses near Fort Chomper was really damaged by hail, but we will continue to assess damage as reports come in and release funds for repairs if the damages are too great for residents to repair on their own. Belle was actually out flying over the city during the storm – I was very worried for her safety but she brushed my concerns aside, saying she was not afraid of some frozen water falling from the skies. That girl will be the death of me, I swear. She's so impulsive and curious, willing to try just about anything. I guess she was getting a little bored, cooped up in the castle as I was occupied by government business lately.

I guess I will go and apologize, and promise to spend more time with her. Desna knows the winter snows are keeping us indoors and the colony is doing well enough that I can be spared from some of the more tedious Council meetings.

24 Kuthona, AR 4713

Preparations for the celebration of the new year are well advanced by now. I fully intend to celebrate properly, in the company of my friends, here in Fort Chomper castle. We're decorating the main hall and the cooks are getting ready for a big feast, while several potential entertainers are being interviewed by Trill, our company bard and Minister of Justice. Belle is excited about the celebration and has hooked Saffron and Fiona into shopping for new clothes for the occasion. The girls must have scrounged the funds from somewhere for I do not remember setting aside any coin for such. I guess I do need a new doublet or perhaps a new shortcoat.

Saffron has been fairly busy for the past few months; she has been studying spells from me and practicing various casting techniques. Her progress has been uneven; she shows great promise and skill in the magic school of conjuration but her skills with illusions and necromantic spells are poor. I do hope she can eventually overcome the difficulties she's having with such dweomers. I have also assisted her with the construction and enchanting of various magical items my companions requested to be made – among them such items as druid's vestments and a headband of wisdom for Fiona, a belt of physical might for Light, and another similar belt of dexterity for Valter. The enchantment process took a while since Saffron was taking great care to complete the objects properly but was otherwise a complete success. We are now only limited by available funds and the arcane knowledge we can bring to bear between Saffron, myself, Jadrick, Fiona, and even Trill the bard. Valter has even generously allowed leftover materials and supplies from his belt to be used for Light's belt of similar construction.

The snows have been few this winter, allowing the more hilly areas to be claimed in the south. Three more hill valleys have been claimed this month alone, with houses, farms and roads completed allowing initial settlement. At the rate Amalur is growing, we will have claimed most of the Greenbelt within our borders by the end of next year.

12 Abadius, AR 4714

It seems to me that the long winter months are simply rife with mischief and disaster. Rovagug puts idle hands to work, it is said sometimes. We have certainly caught the eye of some malignant deity, for I doubt chance alone could have caused such an improbable string of events as we have recently witnessed here.

I haven't been paying much attention to the personal affairs of my companions, and it seems that I should have. Jadrick had apparently continued to court Lily Teskerten, one of our prominent citizens and a former Council Minister, while Lily herself has been dallying with Kesten, our general and Minister of War, at the same time. The two men apparently were unaware of each other's relationship with Lily, until the whole affair became public last week as Kesten ran into Jadrick in Lily's bedchambers, and they had a very public fight.

Since then, the two have been throwing accusations at each other and have in general behaved like small children over the matter of Lily's affections. The affairs recalls a similar public spat between Jadrick and Jubilost Narthropple, another prominent gnome in our colony. The whole town is awash in gossip and scandal, and factions seem to be lining behind Jadrick, Kesten, or even Lily herself. I would vastly prefer not to involve myself in private lives of my companions but I might have no choice if this incessant feuding does not stop. Our citizens are questioning the loyalty of our government and our dedication to appropriate morals, whatever those might be.

Despite the public feuding, we did manage to continue expanding our borders in the Narlmarches this month. Two areas of forest were claimed and roads built through them, one of which includes a grove of excellent prime timber for logging and construction. We are still working on making a proper logging camp in the area, but soon it should start contributing elder couchwood logs to our construction efforts. The road connecting the new logging camps with rest of Amalur crosses two rivers, which necessitated the construction of two new bridges, which were paid for by our government. Settlers moved into the hills in the south we had claimed earlier, as we helped build farms and hamlets in two more hill valleys.

We also opened ground on another expansion of our capital city, a district called Seaswag west of Fort Chomper proper. A luxury store opened up in Newton district in Dreidendorf as well, no doubt to offer a variety of high-quality goods for our expanding nobility, as well as an alchemical emporium a few doors down from it, to provide alchemical components to Dreidendorf's many mages and mystics. Kesten lobbied for a watchtower to be constructed in the Newton district so we obliged him as well.

Even after all the construction efforts, our colony coffers have never been in a better condition. According to the latest report by Jhod Kavken, our Minister of Finance, our treasury stands at 282,351 gold pieces. By all accounts, Amalur is rich and prosperous. We already have ideas on how to properly invest such wealth; several of my companions have been advocating the construction of a proper waterfront and I tend to agree – the river trade will prove crucial to our long-term prosperity. After all, we are part of the River Kingdoms.

10 Calistril, AR 4714

Light has been working once again at reducing unrest caused by the political scandal between Kesten and Jadrick, and as usual, he has been successful. The hubub has died down for the most part and things are again calm in Dreidendorf.

Our surveyors expanded Amalur to the west through the forest in Narlmarches and we managed to claim the abandoned elven keep thereabouts. We also claimed the abandoned temple of Erastil in northern Greenbelt forest, as well as one more hilly area south of Tuskwater lake, just past the Shrike river outflowing from the lake. More farms were built in the southern hills, as well as solid roads leading through the forest toward the elven keep and temple of Erastil both.

A waterfront finished construction in the new Seaswag district in our capital, and we built some houses near the waterfront to support it, as well as a guild hall. Tatzlford residents paid for a monument in their town celebrating women that love gnomes; I confess to being somewhat confused and jelaous at the apparent draw gnomish men have for women in our colony.

28 Calistril, AR 4714

Courier from Restov arrived today, with a message from Lamar Aldori, Swordlord of Restov, and our nominal liege. While greeting us and congratulating us on our triumphs, Swordlord Lamar has cautioned that fellow colonists from Brevoy in the settlement of Varnhold, east of Amalur, have met with some trouble. Apparently, convoys to Varnhold have been going missing, and the settlement is often late in responding to messages. With the currently turbulent political climate in Restov, the Swordlord is unable to send troops to investigate, so he is asking us to find out what is happening with Varnhold. We will investigate this issue at first opportunity. The letter itself raised some eyebrows among our Ministers – for a vassal like Lord Lamar to ask us to investigate the affairs of Brevoy on his behalf is well, uncommon. Some Isseans would even go as far as to say such behavior is treasonous. Either way, the news do not bode well for Brevoy as a kingdom.

However, we were distracted by news delivered by two ragged lizardfolk asking to see us. In their broken common speech, they warned us of an impending attack by their lizardfolk king, Vestket, and a band of raiders approaching from the southwest. Apparently, our overtures of peace a year earlier when we rescued the boy Tig from the lizardfolk village were largely wasted on their king. Some of his people disagree with his methods, so they rushed to warn us when Vestket announced his raid to the lizardfolk. My companions and I wasted no time and gathered in full force, moving to head off the lizardfolk attack.

There was no ambush, no surprise – we met the lizard king and his retinue in open, lightly wooded terrain between the waters of Tuskwater lake and the rolling hills to the southwest of Dreidendorf. The lizardfolk king made an imposing figure, dressed in his leather armor and wielding a large trident and javelins in his clawed hands. He was accompanied by several of his lizardfolk, similarly armed, and a number of large crocodiles, which were a cause for some concern. There was even a will-o-wisp floating nearby, presumably allied to the lizardfolk. The presence of that fae marauder would have warranted a harsh reaction from us, given the bad blood and history between our party and will-o-wisps in the area. I attempted to shout a parley from a distance regardless, but king Vestket paid no heed to my words and urged his retinue to attack immediately.

Battle was joined and we fought in a confusing melee. Our spellcasters and myself supported Light, Percy and several summoned fire elementals from the rear, while Valter plied his deadly arrows against any foe that he could see. I used a fireball or two, and Jadrick created a large pit in the middle of the enemy advance, forcing them to detour around it. It was all over in a few minutes; we killed all of the enemies, allowing no retreat or escape. King Vestket was brought down by Percy's vicious bites, and that ended the fighting. Our injures were not grievous but almost all of us took a blow or two; Fiona was busy after the battle healing such injuries as she deemed dangerous to our continued health.

Vestket and his band were well armed and equipped, as we discovered after defeating them. The king himself wore a coral crown with lapis lazuli inserts, some gold armbands, and furs, and he had on his person a malachite statue of a serpent dragon, coins and jewelry in fair number, as well as a very potent curing potion. We also recovered his trident and leather armor, both enchanted to some degree. The slain will-o-wisp apparently kept its treasure with this band of lizardfolk, for we found a cold iron longspear of very good make, a tree feather token, a magical ring of swimming, more animal skins, coins and 3 minor citrite gems. There was even a pair of studded quartz collars, found around the necks of the crocodiles helping the lizardfolk. The rest of the mundane weapons and armor used by the king's lizardfolk guards were of no special notice.

We took all the bodies of the lizardfolk and their crocodile pets, as well as the remains of the will-o-wisp, and burned them in a large bonfire in a clearing near the battle site.

Following this battle, we returned to the city and I immediately arranged for a small caravan loaded with foodstuffs of various kinds to be sent to the lizardfolk village, as a gesture of peace. Our servants loaded meats, flour, bread, vegetables of different kinds, and even some beer into the wagons, worth about two thousand gold coins altogether. The two ragged lizardfolk who had warned us about Vestket's raid agreed to take the news of his defeat to their village and to distribute the food among the lizardfolk villagers there. I hope that after this gesture and with their warmongering king dead, the lizardfolk will commit to a permanent peace with Amalur and perhaps even consent to become part of our kingdom in the near future.

This is a journal entry from our session on September 15th, 2012. The party dealt with the mudbowl creature, killed the hodag beast, and explored part of Varnhold in Nomen Heights area.

29 Calistril, AR 4714

As the weather has improved a bit with the spring thaw, I called upon my companions to ride out of our capital city and resolve the issue of the creatures inhabiting the mudbowl near the southern shore of the Tuskwater lake. According to old Beldame, the witch living near the lake, there are special black rattlecap mushrooms growing in the mudbowl. She is willing to pay us 100 gold pieces for every undamaged mushroom we recover, so this small expedition is a sound investment of our time and effort, in addition to clearing the local area from potential monsters living in the mudbowl itself.

After riding through most of the morning, we reached the mudbowl itself around noon. The area was covered in strange fumes we had seen before, and the gray shroud prevented us from seeing within. We bickered for a few minutes near the mudbowl, as none of my companions seemed willing to brave the noxious airs. Finally, I cast a few protective enchantments on Saffron and myself, and led the way into the toxic atmosphere of the mudbowl.

Immediately upon descending into the valley with the strange boiling mud pools, I found it hard to breathe. The visibility was no more than perhaps fifty feet or so, making it hard to see where one was going. My companions followed me somewhat sheepishly. Within a minute, we almost ran into a large monstrous plant creature, that Fiona identified as a tendriculous. These semi intelligent plant-like creatures are generally hostile, and bite and swallow their enemies in their giant maws. Fiona warned us the creature heals quickly, is immune to acid, and to avoid its many lethal tentacles.

While Jadrick did try to talk to the being, it showed no interest in conversation and simply rushed us with a strange clacking sound, waving its tentacles in a threatening fashion. Saffron and I responded with a scorching ray spell and a fireball, respectively, and the battle was joined. The fumes in the air incapacitated Light, Jadrick and Fiona, and even Valter stopped to cough and retch for a few moments. The tendriculous charged and as luck would have it, I was directly in its path. The creature struck with several tentacles, but I managed to duck and weave and avoid its attacks. Backing away furiously, I cried for my companions to help me even as I cast the haste spell on our party to speed our movements.

After the initial confusion, my companions recovered from the toxic fumes and attacked the tendriculous. Jadrick managed to slow it down with his dweomer while Light and Percy charged the vile plant creature. We hit it hard with spells, arrows, claws and other weapons, and so it went down, falling to our blows. It was after the brief fight that we noticed the black rattlecap mushrooms growing in clumps around the center of the mudbowl. While a few were crushed in the fighting, we managed to gather no less than 13 intact fully grown mushrooms to deliver to old Beldame for our reward. The noxious fumes forced us to cut out planned exploration of the mudbowl short, but we did confirm there were no other monsters roaming about the valley.

By late afternoon we returned to the city, and I rode out with Saffron and Jadrick to meet old Beldame and collect our reward. She was pleased to see us and promptly paid us the promised gold for the delivery of her black rattlecap mushrooms. Old Beldame also mentioned she might be willing to accept commissions for enchanting quality armor and weapons if the enchantment is within her power, for a fee. We welcomed her offer, promised to return at some time in the future should we require her services, and promptly rode out back to Dreidendorf for some well-deserved sleep.

30 Calistril, AR 4714

My plan was to assemble our expedition to investigate the lack of news from Varnhold in Nomen Heights east of our colony today, but one of the local hunters spoke to us early in the morning, warning of a beast called hodag that his hunting party spotted a few days ago. Apparently, the beast is not as mythical as many in town believed, and it is every bit as large and as ferocious as another local, a lumberjack by name of Stas, claimed when he lost his magic spear to the hodag a few years ago. Given our recent experiences with the monstrous owlbear attacks, we could not afford to ignore a large beast lairing in the hills south of our capital, so we postponed our trip to Varnhold.

As the hunters gave us a decent description of the hidden ravine where the beast held its lair, we needed no special preparations and were able to ride southward within a few hours of sunrise. The fair, sunny weather helped us move over the broken terrain as quickly as we could, and by early afternoon we had reached a place called Deadfalls – a deep valley between two hills, where many trees had fallen down into the ravine. Numerous dense bushes grew at the lower parts of the ravine, creating somewhat of a hedge maze, and there was a single large clearing near the center. Saffron and myself cast what protective enchantments we had ready for the occasion, and Trill the bard told us what he knew of this hodag as we descended the sleep slopes leading down, having left our horses and wagon on top of a nearby ridge.

The hodag is apparently a great beast, as big as a large ox, with four feet which all end with sharp claws. Its massive jaws and teeth are fearsome weapons, and it is said the hodag can burrow underground and disappear and appear quickly, leaving no trail for the hunters to follow. Despite its ferocity and reach, it is somewhat intelligent but its sentience is in doubt among those who are familiar with the lore. Just as Trill finished his recital of the facts and lore surrounding the hodag, we reached the clearing in the center of Deadfalls.

The hodag was readily apparent, as the beast was slumbering in the center of the clearing. Our somewhat noisy approach stirred it from its sleep and it roared, charging to attack without delay. Jadrick stepped forth into the beast's path and managed to slow it down significantly with his slowness dweomer, and then we fell upon it with spells, arrows, claws and fists. After a brief struggle, the hodag switched tactics and burrowed underground, leaving our sight. I hurriedly used a levitate spell to move myself and my apprentice out of danger, levitating us some thirty feet up in the air above the ground. However, my companions were ready for such tactics on the part of the beast; Fiona turned herself into a small earth elemental, and Jadrick summoned some more of the same. They all burrowed into the ground in pursuit of the hodag, and forced it to the surface in less than a minute.

After it had surfaced, surrounded by summoned earth elementals and already badly injured, Valter and Light finished it off quickly. Following the hodag's demise, we patched up the few wounds we had sustained in the battle, and searched the clearing, finding the beast's nest in a thick clump of bushes. On several decaying body of animals and a few humanoids, we found some handaxes (one of which was of quality dwarf make), a mostly intact magically protected suit of studded leather armor, and a very sharp magical spear. Fiona sawed off the hodag's head as evidence of our victory, and we built a small bonfire to burn hodag's body and the remains of its unfortunate victims as is our custom. After the bodies were mostly ashes floating in the wind, we set off to return to Dreidendorf.

Our return to the city was uneventful, and we brought the news of hodag's death to the relieved local hunters and attempted to return the magical spear to Stas the lumberjack. He was so thankful the hodag had been slain, however, that he insisted that we keep the magical spear as a reward, stating that his hunting days were definitely over. I was too tired to argue much, and the spear looked fairly useful at any rate, so I accepted the gift graciously. Tomorrow morning, we will set out for Nomen Heights east of Amalur, and try to resolve the mystery of Varnhold.

1 Pharast AR 4714

Since our arrival into the Stolen Lands, my companions and I have mostly stuck to the area called Greenbelt, which is a strip of forest and wetlands north and west of the Tuskwater lake. We also explored and settled the plains north of the lake and just to the south of the Brevoy border. The hills south of the lake were full of dangers, but we cleared out such monsters and beasts found in the area and opened the region to settlement.

The Tuskwater lake is largely fed by the river Shrike, flowing into the lake from the hills in the east of Greenbelt. Further east lies the highland area called Nomen Heights. The maps of the Stolen Lands available to us show this area in little detail; it is a highland moor with mountains protecting its borders on the western side. Brevoy borders the Nomen Heights along the north, with two cities, Restov and Navataz Crossing, and one fortification, Fort Sarenco, being relatively close to the border. The wild lands of Iobaria stretch eastward from the Heights. River Shrike flows out of the highlands, past Shrike Cascade and Shrike River Falls, two landmark waterfalls. A tributary to Shrike river called Crooked river also descends from the mountains through Crooked Falls, to enter Greenbelt and Amalur's borders.

I scoured such maps and tomes that we had on the geography and inhabitants of the Nomen Heights region, and spent some time talking to merchants and travelers who had traded with Varnhold in the past. Their information was conflicting and scarce, but I did get some useful lore out of them. Apparently, the caravan route going past Olegton in our north has a branch that veers south and enters the hills, and then follows the Crooked river upstream into the highlands. The caravan road eventually reaches the Varnhold pass, the only mountain crossing between Greenbelt and Nomen Heights. The road crosses the turbulent waters of the Crooked river there on Crevory bridge, built by a man called Varn, who is credited with founding Varnhold as well. From the pass, the road moves east and a little south, eventually reaching the settlement of Varnhold after what I am told is about a day's worth of travel on horseback.

The whole area is mostly unexplored and Varnhold is the only known settlement. There is a huge lake, called Lake Silverstep, somewhere in the eastern reaches of the Heights, underneath a tall mountain called Tors of Levenies. The lake is rumored to be a good fishing site for the rare and valuable silver eels, but there are also tales of monsters living in the lake to deter the fishermen. A notable peak in the area is called Talon Peak, and some traders speak of an old tower on top of that mountain, where a giant bird is said to be nesting. Another story tells of a huge gravesite with many skeletons of linnorms, which are kin to dragons but even larger, being mostly flightless.

A grim tale tells that Nomen centaurs bury their dead in strange caerns in the area called the Dunswall. Some claim there are great treasures to be found in this burial ground; the area is said to swarm with undead centaurs however, deterring any would-be grave robbers. Many of the locals in Dreidendorf agree that the Nomen centaurs eat humans and other humanoids tresspassing on their lands, but I remain skeptical of such tall tales.

There are also stories about strange one-eyed giants that ruled the region long ago, leaving regular circular mounds as ruins of their buildings dotting the moor. A valley is reputed to exist south of the area roamed by centaur tribes, that is supposed to be the graveyard of these extinct one-eyed giants. The same valley is supposed to hold an entire army of blood-drinking ghosts of these giants.

I also copied down the details of several wanted posters affixed to the public notice board just outside the gatehouse of Fort Chomper. There are apparently a number of people who are interested in items or locations inside of Nomen Heights, and folks residing there. We will try to investigate any likely leads and garner some coin from the promised rewards while we explore the region.

However, we will have to postpone our planned expedition to Nomen Heights for at least a couple more days. Jadrick insisted that we visit the location of the unicorn's body in the western Narlmarches first. It will take us most of two days to reach the site and return, but Jadrick believes we need to check on it first, so I guess that is what we will do.

7 Pharast, AR 4714

The trip to our western counties to re-examine the body of the dead unicorn in the forest was a complete waste of time. We spent two days riding there and back to our capital, simply to satisfy Jadrick's curiosity. The unicorn's body was as we had initially found it, and it still showed no signs of decomposition or decay. While certainly an interesting phenomenom to study, it wasn't in any way an urgent matter.

Finally we mounted our expedition to Nomen Heights four days ago. As is our practiced habit by now, we all rode our horses (except Fiona), and two more mares were hitched to a small wagon that was driven by Fiona. Under mostly sunny skies, we traveveled east, following river Shrike upstream, for a day or so. Upon reaching Amalur's border in the area, we slowed down and started to explore properly, mapping the area and examining any location of interest. The next day we continued moving upstream, and struck out away from the river in the direction of the mountains rising ahead of us. There were a number of streams flowing in this area, and they were covered in green reeds as they crossed tiny valleys on their way to the sea. As we were exploring the area, Valter spotted an owl circling us high up in the sky.

Soon thereafter, the owl flew straight at us, landing only a few yards from our party. Before we could do much, the owl suddenly popped out of existence and an unknown green-skinned woman took the owl's place in front of us. Fiona was the only one who seemed to know this woman, as they briefly conversed in a language unfamiliar to me, but that Jadrick confirmed to be druidic. The rest of us waited patiently for the short conversation to be over. In a few minutes, the woman had delivered whatever message she had intended, and once again transformed into an owl and flew away.

Fiona related the conversation to us; apparently the woman was her mother and told her that “they” deserved it. She said that if the centaurs attacked the village, they must have been provoked, and mentioned checking the tannery if we didn't believe her. This sudden revelation of Fiona's family was distressing, but Fiona refused to discuss the issue and simply repeated the message the woman delivered for us. I admit to being somewhat surprised – by her transformation into an owl form, I would have guessed the woman to be a druidess or a mage of some sort, which would make sense as her presumed daughter Fiona followed in her footsteps. And yet, the green skin was unusual enough. It might indicate faerie heritage, or perhaps the side-effects of sorcery such as we had seen on old Beldame. Even her presence here was curious – was she merely watching over her daughter or did she reside in the Heights?

Either way, Fiona would not discuss the matter so we simply continued our journey. The next day, we reached the mountains themselves, and slowly followed the canyon of Crooked river upward. Around mid-day, we reached the Varnhold pass, which is a relatively flat area between two mountains where the river flows through, cascading through the rocks. The path crossed the river here on a stout stone bridge, and there was a single stone watchtower guarding the highest point of the pass.

We approached the watchtower but there were no signs of life anywhere. The doors were open and the insides were emptied of all valuables, leaving only crude wooden furniture suitable for a remote outpost. Fiona searched around the watchtower and found tracks leaving the area and going east, but the tracks were over a month old. Puzzled by the empty watchtower, we spent the rest of the day looking through the area, climbing cliffs and narrow mountain valleys, and mapping the region.

Tonight we will sleep in the watchtower itself, as it offers protection from the elements and foes both. The mystery of Varnhold seems to deepen as we cross the mountains. Why was the watchtower abandoned? Had any messages, requests for aid, gone through here, only to be lost on the road to Amalur? What was the meaning of the cryptic message Fiona's mother delivered to us? This journey has so far yielded merely more questions and no real answers.

9 Pharast, AR 4714

It took us two days of traveling to reach Varnhold, slowly trudging through the hills moving east. The path we were following was badly marked at times, and it has been raining on and off through the past two days. The rain slowed us down further, souring our mood and limiting our visibility. The terrain was hilly, and we could see a river crossing the hills ahead of us.

The area was obviously part of a settlement, with the occasional farm or house that we saw alongside the path, but there were no signs of life. Each dwelling we passed was abandoned and partly looted, and corpses of cattle and livestock littered the yards. The cattle seemed to have been abandoned and probably died from thirst or starvation inside their own pens, as we stopped by a few farms for a brief search. The rain kept falling steadily. We reached the Varnhold settlement proper late in the afternoon.

Varnhold was apparently a cluster of houses and buildings, haphazardly thrown around a crossing of a small river, with farms and smaller huts built nearby. It has perhaps thirty or fourty buildings of various sizes, overlooked by a small hill with a motte and bailey fort on the other side of the river. The stench of decay coming from the town proper reached us as we neared. Many flies buzzed around but there were two obvious clouds of insects hovering around town.

The first substantial building we approached was a farm of some sort. We found many rotting pig carcasses, along with a large hole in the side of the farmhouse. As we neared, a huge, feral dire boar charged from the farmhouse and attacked us. We put it down swiftly, but not before the boar nearly gored me, giving me a broken rib and several deep scratches from his tusks. Belle helped me and used her strange azata magic to heal most of my injuries. The smell of decay and filth emanating from the abandoned farmhouse was hideous, and we limited our search to a brief inspection, which yielded nothing of interest.

We searched through another small farm, and finding nothing of interest, moved on to the next substantial building in town – a tannery. An acrid, familiar stench of uncured hides and bonding reagents wafted from this modest building, and there was a fenced enclosure with three horse hides stretched on a rack in the back, as well as an outhouse in the yard in front of the building. Upon entering the tannery, we found to our disgust that the horse hides stretched on racks in the enclosure were in fact, centaur hides, with the human portion removed. The rest of the building housed a number of animal hides in various stages of stretching and curing. Even as we contemplated the meaning of this hideous find, I moved the exposed tanning racks into the building itself to protect them from the rain.

Given this find, we started to realize the inhabitants of this village may have been fighting with the Nomen centaurs for a long while before their mysterious disappearance. The next two buildings on the closer side of the river were farms as well, which held no clues or items of value. There was a curious lack of human or humanoid bodies anywhere. If the settlers had fled, the question was where were they now.

The remaining large building on the north shore of the small river was apparently a brewery. The sign hanging from the roof, the barrel outside, the smell of beer, and a small lean-to with large vats attached to the main building made that fairly obvious. The main brewery structure was a wooden two-story building, and the sign showed a sign and a smiling dwarf. In a moment of whimsical inspiration, Jadrick called the building the “Happy Dwarf Brewery”, and we agreed that the name seemed likely and suitable. There was a small loading dock at the back, situated at the river bank, and an empty wagon standing near the dock.

There was some question about the quality of the stout beer we discovered in the covered barrel just outside the brewery, so I took it upon myself to try a bit, to settle the issue. The beer was decent, but perhaps somewhat unrefined compared to some of the stouts made in our capital city. I realized belatedly after drinking the beer that perhaps I should have checked it for poison before I tried it, but fortunately it was merely beer.

Searching through the insides of the brewery, Belle somehow discovered a loose floorboard beneath one of the brewery vats, where we found a metal lockbox, likely holding the coin earned by the establishment. We could find no key, and lacking the immediate means to force the lockbox open, we merely set it aside in our loot wagon for later examination. I decided that the money should be returned to any surviving settlers here if at all possible.

Having searched all the buildings on the north side of the small river dividing the settlement into two halves, we moved to the shallow ford in the middle of town to cross to the other side. While crossing the shallows, we were suddenly attacked by a monstrous, gigantic lobster creature. It struck with its claws and injured me badly, forcing me to flee to dubious safety of the near shore. I did manage to use the haste dweomer to speed our party up, which doubtlessly helped the rest of my companions dispose of the lobster creature in short order. Fiona identified it as a chuul, a lobsterlike monster and a predator afterwards. Light and Percy dragged the corpse to the southern shore; Fiona healed me of all injuries, and we gingerly crossed river once again, this time with no interruptions.

Once on the southern shore of the river, Fiona moved forward, only to immediately fall into a hidden pit trap lined with sharp wooden spikes at the bottom. Afraid more traps were laid out, we merely called out to her and found out she was only mildly injured. Fiona transformed into an air elemental and simply flew out of the trap, and then Light decided to run around the area, trying to find all the pit traps by the expedient of stepping upon them. Given his near-miraculous reflexes, he managed to trip nearly half a dozen pit traps before falling into the last one. However, even in that last case, his strange powers allowed him to float gently to the pit bottom instead of falling straight down, and thus the path was cleared for us. Light did spend a few minutes examining the pits, remarking that we could use something similar in the defenses of Dreidendorf and other cities in Amalur. I will leave these defensive preparations to him and Kesten, our Minister of War, as they are certainly not my specialty.

Past the pits, we found a small greensward, a park occupying what seemed to be the center of Varnhold. A few trees grew around an unoccupied pillory, and a well had been dug at the southern end of the green. Looking into the well, we found a decaying body of a naked greenish, bluish looking creature. Fiona correctly identified it as a spriggan. Spriggans are fae that can grow large at will, like to attack from surprise and shadows, and have strange magical abilities. The spriggan seemed to have been drowned on purpose, perhaps in a public execution.

From the greensward, we moved back to the river and approached the building closest to the water – it was a long low structure with a wide barnlike entrance. The sign showed harnesses and a blacksmith's anvil, leading to a reasonable guess that the structure was a smithy and a stable. An enclosed fence was right next to the smithy, and we found many corpses of mounts and livestock, apparently left behind trapped in the yard. An entire flock of crows was picking at the half dozen horse carcasses sprawled in the back of the yard.

Alarmed upon our approach, the crows took flight as a swarm and attacked our party. The murderous birds were hardly a match for us even as we dispersed them with accurate ranged fire from Valter, helped by magic from our casters. The rest of the crows fled in all directions; it was then that Light noticed another crow seemingly watching us from about a hundred feet away. Light said this particular crow had been following us since we entered town. We tried to approach said crow, but it flew off. Fiona tried to chase it in air elemental form after Valter chanced one shot with his bow and missed.

Since we could hardly follow Fiona's barely visible air elemental form as she chased down the crow, we simply waited for her return. She returned about half an hour later after we heard a strange booming sound from somewhere in town. Upon her return Fiona explained that she had caught up to the crow and spoken with it, and that the crow claimed it was just hungry and looking for meals. Given the abundance of carcasses everywhere in town, the story was a transparent lie so Fiona pressed the crow further. It fled again after saying to leave it alone. Fiona followed the wiley bird and found it was flying in circles. After cornering it for the second time, the crow inexplicably exploded in a bright, fiery ball of flames, scorching our druidess mildly.

I found this to be yet another unexplained mystery relating to this town. As we could not make heads or tails of this apparently suiciding curious crow, we searched through the smithy and stables but found nothing except some broken tools and many more carcasses of livestock, in various stages of decomposition.

The skies had been getting darker steadily for some time by this point, and we decided to camp inside the brewery during the night. We took our mounts and our wagon inside the building through the loading dock doors, and then barred the doors from the inside. Given the uncertainty of our position here, we all agreed to double up on guard tonight. Trill cured Fiona's burns and remaining injuries from her fall with his curing spells, my companions shared a few cold rations for supper, and we promptly curled up in our bedrolls, save for those two chosen for the first watch of the night.

This is the journal entry from our game session on September 22nd. The party clears out rest of Varnhold settlement.

10 Pharast, AR 4714

Our night of rest in the brewery in Varnhold was interrupted sometime shortly before midnight, just as I was about to go to sleep. A strange black smoke poured through the chimney, and two deathly pallid arms emerged from it, and then the being attacked, going straight for Light. We scrambled to defend ourselves against this foe, even as the black smoke spoke in a harsh, guttural tongue. Alarmed, Belle translated, yelling that the smoke was a demon spirit and that it was ordered by its master to kill us.

Saffron and I covered each other in one corner of the room and threw magic missiles at this being, while Trill was calling it a souleater and trying to hit it with his weapons. The creature was brought down in a concerted effort by our party, but not before striking Light a few times with its pallid arms. Light was visibly weakened by his injuries, even though they seemed superficial to me. The souleater's death caused its smokey body to disperse and disappear, leaving no trace behind.

While Fiona tended to Light's wounds and assured him his weakness was temporary and she could magically heal it in the morning, Trill explained what he knew of the lore of these strange creatures. Apparently, souleaters are demonic spirits called into being by powerful mages to hunt and kill their enemies. They can track their quarry anywhere in the world but require the victim's name before they can be sent to kill. I fear now that the spying crow we had encountered yesterday was somehow connected with a mage that sent this souleater against us.

After the souleater's attack, the rest of the night was peaceful. We managed to get some rest and woke up early in the morning, just after dawn broke over the mountains to the east. Fiona did as promised and healed Light's unnatural weakness, while also patching up what wounds were still hurting our companions. We rested for a few hours while Light recovered fully from his wounds, and I took the opportunity to sit down with Saffron and Jadrick; between the two of us Saffron was able to scribe a few more spells into her spellbook, mostly from Jadrick. He really knows a wide selection of dweomers and I am grateful for his assistance. The freezing cold that we experienced early in the morning slowly abated, but the temperatures were still very low as we came out of the brewery to explore the rest of Varnhold.

Fiona warned us that given the aid she had given to Light this morning, she was unable to prepare a communal spell of protection against the cold, so we would have to take care to limit our exposure to the biting cold. We continued our search of the town at the greensward, by examining the modest cottage with a sign showing a needle and thread. The apparent tailor's residence in the town was thoroughly looted, with only a few bolts of cloth and a some tailoring tools remaining behind.

Next, we examined the smallish house close to tailor's cottage, which we identified as probably belonging to the village potter. The front door was broken down, and there was a small fenced yard adjoining the house covered in smashed remains of many clay vessels and statues. While my brief search found nothing of interest, Fiona managed to locate a hidden trap door nestled in a cushioning bed of straw. Upon opening the trap door, we found an elegant set of flagons and platters, hand-crafted and chased in platinum. As the set appeared valuable and fragile, we wrapped it in bolts of cloth from the tailor's next door, and placed it amongst our loot.

Another building close by was halfway built into the hillside, looking like a sawed-off house in the part that jutted from the hill. It was guarded by a heavy oaken door that hung askew, as if torn by some terrible force. Within the dwelling, we found a small wooden box and a book torn in half lying among the debris. The book was largely filled with poorly scrawled handwriting; it seemed to be a personal journal of sorts. A page torn out from the journal was lying nearby, dated two months ago. It spoke of a jade bracelet found by the river, describing its intricate decorative work. A single large rune inscribed upon the bracelet was drawn in charcoal on the next page of the diary. Trill managed to identify the language as skald, but we could not decipher the meaning of the rune itself.

The well-made wooden box we found proved itself to be a much more interesting find, however. It was magical, and my careful examination showed it to be a magical folding boat! This amazing magical item can fold itself out to a small boat or a somewhat larger ship upon a spoken word of command, and yet another command folds it back into the small wooden box. This was a very valuable find, as it would allow us to cross rivers and lakes and swiftly sail where there are no bridges or fords. The River Kingdoms are not called thusly simply because of some whim; they are divided and connected by many rivers and lakes and river trade is the lifeblood of the region. I suspect this folding boat will be of great use to us in the future.

We searched a few more farms nearby and found nothing of interest, until we reached the weaver's cottage, proclaimed so by the sign above the door. The cottage had cheerful curtains and a number of children's toys lying in the yard. When we opened the door, a half-starved calico cat ran up toward us and meowed pitifully, begging for food. Fiona took pity on the small feline and fed it a ration bar that I volunteered for the cause; the cat was grateful and ate the whole ration in minutes. Fiona cast a dweomer that allowed her to talk to animals, and interrogated the cat. The cat said that her feeders left at the red sun and never came back. It also said the feeders left for a new bird song; but could not tell us anything else of importance. The cat called itself Dragon and followed Fiona after we left the weaver's cottage; Fiona seems to have this talent for attracting stray creatures to her.

The big building next to weaver's cottage was a large barn, with cargo doors at the front side and a smaller side door where a lean-to abutted the main structure. A strong odor of barley and other grains clearly indicated this building was the town's granary. As we entered, we saw an immense number of rats inside, which attacked us immediately in several swarms.

While unexpected, the battle against the rat swarms was ended quickly; I used my fireball dweomer once and spells and arrows and Percy's fangs finished off the rats in short order. There was hardly any barley left in the granary, another sign of town's troubles. As qw were poking around the barn, a messenger bird flew in from the sky and landed in front of Jadrick. We recognized the bird as one of the flock we maintain in Dreidendorf for the occasional urgent message to be sent across the colony. There was a small note wrapped around the bird's leg, which Jadrick opened and read.

The news must have been dire, as Jadrick's face turned nearly purple and he gulped a few times. Upon our prompting, Jadrick told us he was urgently needed back in Dreidendorf on a personal matter that could not wait, and bid us immediately farewell, rushing to get ahold of his horse and ride back to our capital. Fiona spoke to him briefly in private, and said she would accompany Jadrick at least part of the way back, concerned about his safety. They both departed in minutes.

We could not do much but agree as our friends left us little choice. In his haste to depart, Jadrick had left the message delivered for him on the ground. Light apparently didn't care much for staying in the proverbial dark, so he read it for all of us staying in Varnhold. It seems that Lily Teskerten, Jadrick's sometime lover and companion, had given birth to Jadrick's child. I was frankly shocked; I had no idea Lily was pregnant, although the scandal of Jadrick and Kesten, our Minister of War, feuding over Lily's attentions was practically old news. The child was born early, apparently, and Lily asked one of the mages at the caster's tower to direct an animal messenger to Jadrick. I now understood Jadrick's haste and wished him well. I suspect there will be much celebration once we return to the city, and some well-deserved ribbing of our gnomish friend.

Our exploration of Varnhold proceeded without our two departed companions. Next we searched through a two-story building built right next to the village greensward, which we assumed to be the inn. The sign above the door showed a seahorse, or rather a hippocampus as they are properly called. There was a single word scratched on the door in the common tongue, saying “NOMEN”. The inside of the inn was thoroughly trashed, but we found a bizarre situation in front of us – a huge spriggan stood in the middle of the common room, seemingly frozen. It was silent and did not respond to our calls, and it was clutching a book in one hand, while the back of its skull was apparently a shattered mess of blood and bone. It was facing a table strewn with papers, a shimmering nimbus of amber color outlining its still form.

I recognized the magic holding the spriggan as a sepia snake sigil, a protective ward usually cast around books and scrolls. From what I knew of the sigil, it could not have gone off more than two weeks or so ago, which didn't agree well with Fiona's estimate of how long ago Varnhold got attacked or abandoned (she estimated that to be about a month ago). Either way, as the spriggan was not an immediate danger, we carefully searched the rest of the inn first. The food still left on the tables was rotting, and upstairs we found six guest rooms. Only one seemed to have been in use at the moment when the inn was abandoned. The personal items in that one room indicated it has once been occupied by a man called Ervil Pendrod. I immediately recognized the name as the name of the missing professor, for which there was an outstanding reward back in Dreidendorf.

Among the more mundane posessions the professor had in his room was a small library of books in a traveling chest, as well as a violin under the bed that Saffron observed was very valuable. The books in the chest included volumes on Iobaran prehistory, on centaurs of central Casmarond, and a book titled “The Untold Heritage of Taldan Armies of Exploration”. There was also an incomplete ethiograph of the indigenous tribes of Iobarian steppes. Mixed in among the books were a number of charcoal sketches of a heavy jade bracelet with unusual markings, matching the ones found in the torn journal page in a house half-built into the hillside nearby.

I suspected we were dealing with the same object here; it appears likely that the professor had traveled to Varnhold upon receiving the news of the bracelet being found, and wanted to investigate it in person. We confirmed this with a leather-bound diary we found at the bottom of the traveling chest with books; it held a letter from Migar Varn, in Varnhold, describing the discovery of the jade bracelet at the banks of the local river by a resident called Willis, and a requesting for Maestro Pendrod to assist them with the item.

I dispelled the sepia sigil holding the huge spriggan in the common room and it collapsed on the ground dead, magic holding it upright fading as my dispel magic dweomer did its job. The book the spriggan was clutching was called “Secrets of Rashalaka Mounds” by Ernest Graveport.

The inn's till had some small amount of gold and other coin in it, which we took as there was hardly any point in leaving it there. Given that these books and the journal we found in the other building were the most interesting clues we had found so far, we sat down for a short while to read through them and to ward ourselves off from the cold outside. Light started a fire in the inn's fireplace and we took turns browsing through the books, looking for any further clues.

It was Light, strangely enough, who discovered a passage in the book on Taldan exploration, that was marked and circled, with a scribbled note saying “Vardaka, perhaps Nomen centaur god”. I reproduced the passage in its entirety here in journal for posterity:

“And so it was, high upon the Torres and well above the Vale’s Stairs, where rises from the high water a stony isle of dire report. Known as Vordakai’s Island to those that do live thereabout, some legend of its name doth come down through the locals. For they speak of a guardian that doth destroy all who would set foot upon its accursed shores. They did name no fewer than a twelvecount of their hero-knights who had left their bones upon its rocky shores over the years after having tested their mettle against its dread warden, ’til none would any longer go there for fear of its hidden terrors. And the name of this terror was given unto this Island.”

Finding no more interesting passages or marks in the books, and sufficiently warmed by the fire, we put all the books and sketches and well as the violin in our loot bags and continued our search. Most of the remaining buildings in the village were farms and didn't yield any more foes, treasure or clues. They all yawned empty and abandoned, leaving us uneasy.

Moving through the eastern end of the village, we came upon a small temple, an octagonal building with white-washed walls and stained glass windows. The temple gleamed in the sunlight, the bow of Erastil shining like a beacon above the temple's doors. We found a neatly kept parsonage behind the temple, and the beginnings of a small cemetery just beyond it. Valter entered the temple and we followed. The insides contained simply wooden furniture; some benches and pews and a wooden altar at one end of the building.

We looked around the temple and our efforts paid off when Valter spotted a hidden drawer built into the side of the altar. Upon opening it, we discovered a small cache of scrolls. I managed to identify them using my magic reading cantrip; they were all divine scrolls of various curative and restorative spells. They did contain a scroll with a dweomer to break enchantments, as well as one scroll of breath of life and raise dead; both being spells of great power and rarity. We argued briefly among ourselves and decided to take the scrolls and use them as needed, but to try and return them to Varnhold's residents if they still lived.

We took some time checking the remaining buildings in town, saving the small fort on a hill for last. Most were farms and of little interest; however, one building with a blue roof and sturdy wooden walls proved itself to be a jeweler's residence. Its walls had been reinforced by wooden beams at several places, and its heavy door had been battered down. The insides were demolished with very little remaining; we searched in vain for gems or valuables for nearly half an hour before we gave up the search.

Since the rest of the town had been searched in some detail, we moved on to the fort on the hill at the southern end of Varnhold. As we approached the hill from the east, a spriggan looked over from the top of the single tower inside the fort and yelled out something in his tongue. His cries warned us of the foe and we slowed down our approach, casting such protective spells as we had in readyness. I tried to call for a parley or talks, but my attempts were useless as the spriggans inside the fort answered my calls with crossbow bolts.

The fort was a typical motte and bailey affairs, built at the top of a small hill. The walls were made of solid wooden stakes, some 15 feet high, and there was a wooden three-story tower on the north end of the fort, opposite of the main gates. A ladder accessible platform seemed to be built into each wall on the inside. The fort gate was neither closed nor locked; we found this lack of basic security measures on the part of our enemies curious.

As we took crossbow fire from the tower, Light charged forward and managed to enter the fort proper, dodging bolts as he ran. Valter and Trill followed right after, while Saffron and myself stayed outside, lobbing fireballs, magic missiles and scorching rays at the defenders inside the tower. Saffron summoned a few wolverines to charge up the hill, but they were slain in moments by accurate crossbow fire from the tower itself. The defenders inside the tower were protected by the narrow arrow-slits they were firing from, but I took the risk and exposed myself to their fire in order to lob a fireball through one of the firing slits.

I was struck by several bolts, injuring me and making me scream out in pain, but I took my revenge by aiming my fireball straight through one of the arrow slits. It entered the tower and detonated inside, and the whole fort shook from the force of the blast, flames roaring out from most of the firing slits. The volume of fire coming from the tower slackened off considerably after that. I quaffed a curing potion, and Saffron and I ran up the hill to the fort gates, where we were sheltered from the tower by the bulk of the gate itself. We both took a few more grazing bolt hits as we ran, but the injuries were not serious.

As we were huddling at the base of the gate and listening to the sounds of combat from inside the fort, Fiona appeared, flying in her air elemental form and reaching us in great haste. She turned back into her humanoid form and told us she had accompanied Jadrick to the edge of the western hills and then started back; hearing loud detonations echoing in the distance impelled her to rush forth to our aid.

With Fiona assisting us, we rushed to the tower and broke down the heavy wooden door barring our entry. Once inside the tower, we were forced to split up and fight our way past many rooms and narrow corridors, with spriggans attacking us from all sides. The fighting was brutal and took its toll; several of us had sustained severe injuries, and Valter was once again saved from the brink of death by sheer unbelievable luck. He had been cornered by several spriggans in their enlarged form wielding halberds, and one managed to get in a lucky hit, nearly decapitating our hapless archer. Fortunately, he fell down the stairs and the battle passed him by, allowing Saffron to revive him with a healing potion.

In the end, Light fought his way up the tower and beat his way through the remaining spriggans. His enchanted brass knuckles proved particularly effective against the fae, as their bane enchantment worked its dire magic upon our enemies. With our victory, we rested for a time in the tower itself and nursed our wounds.

We counted an even dozen spriggan bodies when we searched the tower after the battle. The fae creatures proved deaf to our attempts to parley, and showed no mercy in the fighting, leaving us with little choice but to kill all of them. The tower and the bodies of our foes yielded quite a bit of treasure, however. The spriggans had daggers, crossbow, halberds and leather armor on their bodies. We also found a magical breastplate, a magical heavy crossbow of seeking, and a bag of holding of the most valuable kind on the body of the spriggan leader. The well room held a small well and several full water barrels, as well as twenty buckets stacked against the southern wall, presumably an emergency reserve in case of a siege.

The bunkhouse where spriggans had made their headquarters was filled with a dozen bunks and held nothing of interest otherwise. Attached to it was the armory room, which contained a number of padded leather armor suits, as well as some shields, both wooden and metal, and a few shortswords, handaxes, bows and crossbows. We also found a high-quality breastplate in there as well as a magically sharpened morningstar, and a large supply of arrows and bolts. Valter immediately claimed the arrows for himself, as his own supply was running low, and I took the magical morningstar for myself after none of my companions expressed an interest in it.

In the kitchen on the ground floor, we found a bag with treasure inside: coins and jewelry worth thousands of gold pieces, and a small payroll coffer holding coin and assorted gems worth another four thousand gold. Lying on the floor nearby was a very fancy longsword I managed to identify as a moderately enchanted longsword of defense, with the crest of the house of Varn on the pommel. We presumed the sword belonged to the commander of the fort. Next to the sword, we found a dead body of a human man with a magical wand of spectral hand dweomer (claimed by me), a magical ring of friend shielding, and an exquisite dark wooden ivory compsite longbow. The workmanship on the longbow was similar to that of centaur tribes of Iobaria, or at least that's what Saffron said after examining it. The longbow was also strongly enchanted with powerful dweomers of thunder and precision, as well as being made for someone of great strenth.

The next room we searched was the dispatcher's quarters, where we found a damaged spellbook with some pages still intact. Within those intact pages were the dweomers of bear's endurance, comprehension of language, flaming sphere, keen edge, mount, and tiny hut. Saffron took the time to copy all those into her spellbook, and I did the same with mine. The governor's quarters were right next door, and there we found a large map of Nomen Heights, tacked to the wall, and torn to shreds. We took the time to reconstruct it carefully, and the map gave us a very good idea of the terrain and sights near the village itself. We will have to check the area out regardless but at least we won't be going into the unknown.

After we spent the better part of day indoors inside the fort, we decided to camp there for the night. We closed the fort gates and barred the tower doors for protection, and lit the fireplaces inside to provide some protection against the chill seeping in from the freezing air outside. I am hoping tonight will be a peaceful night of restful sleep for a change, Desna willing.

This is the journal from game session on September 28th 2012, first part. Party returns from Varnhold expedition and handles kingdom management.

14 Pharast, AR 4714

With Varnhold presumably cleared of monsters and more questions than answers, we decided to head back to our capital on the next day. The trip back to Dreidendorf took three days and was largely uneventful. Fiona provided for all of our food largely with her hunting skill so we did not need to use any of our rations. Upon arriving back to the city, we met up with Jadrick, who had arrived just a few hours before we did, and he had quite a story to tell. Lily and Jadrick's child were well, and we did pay our respects and well-wishes to them, but the mother was quite tired from the early birth and we gave them their privacy.

Jadrick told us how he was ambushed on the second day of travel back to Dreidendorf, just as he was passing the watchtower in Varnhold pass. He barely saw his attacker, a giant humanoid with only a single eye, as it threw a huge boulder at him and knocked him unconscious. Jadrick then awoke, tied up twenty feet up in the air on a cave wall with crude rope, in a small cave in the mountains. After spending about an hour trying to escape from his bonds, a familiar red-haired elvish woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere, climbed the rock wall, cut the ropes, and both Jadrick and she fell down to the straw strewn around the cave floor. By the time Jadrick managed to get up and look around, the red-haired woman was once again nowhere to be found.

As the cave was otherwise empty and fearing the return of his giant abductor, Jadrick rushed outside. All of his gear was still on him and he had not been robbed or hurt, other than the swelling on his head where the boulder had hit him. Running down the hill slopes from the cave, Jadrick managed to find his horse wondering around the area and quickly mounted it, pushing it forward and away from the hills.

Despite this harrowing adventure, no more giants or enemies appeared and Jadrick managed to reach Dreidendorf unmolested about half a day ahead of us. With his story concluded, he gingerly accepted our concerns and worries and we all speculated on the identify of the red-haired elf maid, the one that we had first encountered while searching for the troll lair in the southern Kamelands. Our party settled back in our quarters while Jadrick went to be with Lily and his baby once more.

21 Pharast, AR 4714

Immediately after our return to Amalur's capital city, the skies opened up with rain. It rained for a few days with barely a break, and we endured the torrential rainstorm in poor humor. Kesten Garess, our Minister of War, had formally resigned barely a day after our party had departed Dreidendorf for our Varnhold expedition earlier in the month. Melianse, our Minister of Foreign Affairs, accepted his resignation on the government's behalf and appointed a temporary deputy to take over for Kesten. Not long afterwards, Kesten himself disappeared entirely from the city. His quarters in the castle proper were almost untouched, missing only a suitcase and some clothes.

I must admit that I never particularly liked Kesten, suspecting him of being a craven, but he did his mostly ceremonial job relatively well. We didn't have many complaints from volunteer militia that he ran in our cities, and with a few noted exceptions, they did protect the colony from larger bandit bands and similar foes. Given the recent public spat between Kesten and Jadrick, our two ministers, over Lily's affections, and the fact that Lily herself had just given birth to Jadrick's son, it seemed like a clear case of public humiliation compounded with personal betrayal that drove Kesten to resign and depart.

That being said, we were left with a vacancy on the Council, and a particularly important one; the ministry of war is largely responsible for our defense and we weren't about to let that duty lapse to a lesser bureaucrat. After some internal discussion, Jadrick, Fiona and myself traveled southwest to old Beldame's house in the swamp, and convinced the old sorceress to join our Council as a Minister of Justice. As Trill held the post recently, we appointed him the Minister of War, and thus completed our Council once again.

I will admit that we were fortunate in that the month of Pharast was otherwise peaceful in the colony. Our expansion plans continued without pause, and we surveyed and cleared the hills around the mudbowl south of Tuskwater lake, and a large area near the former monstrous owlbear lair even further to the south in the higher elevations. In addition, we expanded eastward, following the road to Varnhold and claimed some of the hills in the area for Amalur. We also built roads in the newly claimed areas, but held off on the apportioning of farming parcels and construction of houses, dams and such. The hilly areas we had claimed were at any rate marginal for agricultural purposes, and our existing farms supported the current population with sufficient spare food to allow for some exports.

The trade in magic items across the colony was brisk in the past few weeks, with a couple of potent wands, one strong ring of protection and a headband granting the user great powers of persuasion changing hands. We profited handsomely from the taxes and filled our treasury with coin. A large open-air market and a couple of housing district were built in Seaswag district in our capital, as well as a brand-new temple decidated to warrior-goddess Irori. Irori's temple was partially financed by our government; the rest of the moneys came from the local community. There is apparently a fairly sizable following of Irori in Amalur and we welcome their presence.

Jadrick has spent most of his time with Lily and his son, which I understand has not been named yet. There is a custom in some gnomish communities that a newly-born child is only named after a certain time has passed, but I am not familiar with the details of the ritual naming. Jadrick did manage to spend a bit of time at the magic shop, as I saw him there purchasing a fully charged wand of dweomer of reduce person. He was even a few gold pieces short of the full amount but I made up the balance and told him not to worry about it. I am certainly not so attached to coin that a few would be missed sorely.

Jadrick's eidolon, Percy, has molted recently and I've only had the occasion to see him again yesterday. Percy has molted from time to time as memory serves, but each time he would change only in a minor aspect of its appearance. This time the change was dramatic – it had grown two arms, and was a lot bigger now, almost the size of a horse. His forefeet are sporting claws as well, and I fear for the creature that stands in its way.

I spent some time training with Jadrick, learning how to cast his dweomer of black tentacles. It is a powerful spell with many battle uses, and I managed to master it in a relatively short time. This spell marks another milestone for me; I am now a journeyman mage of the 4th circle, even if I came to this skill later than I expected. I've also finally practiced the mending cantrip sufficiently to have it work reliably for me. As my clothes get torn up in battle more often than not, I won't have to rely on Saffron or the local seamstresses to repair my outfits any more, which is a relief. Saffron was the teacher for once and I was the apprentice, for she helped me master a summoning spell of the third circle. We work well together and she seems happy to help.

There were some rumors circulating that banditry has been on the rise, hitting more remote farming communities across the Kamelands, but Trill organized the militia after his appointment as Minister of War and they rode out all through last week, putting out patrols and scaring the bandits away. Despite their manifest success, I fear we will need a more permanent force to keep the dangerous people and creatures away from our borders.

22 Pharast, AR 4714

A sphinx came into Dreidendorf today, pulling behing him a gold-painted, gem encrusted wagon. Sphinxes are uncommon; these beasts with leonine bodies and human heads are known for their wisdom and power, and their love of riddles. They are not evil as a rule and we had no reason to object to this sphinx's presence. He pulled his golden wagon up to the Fort Chomper and then loudly called the rulers of Amalur out. He promised riches in his wagon to those who could answer two riddles, and since he heard we were smart and wise, he offered the riddles to us. There was a bit of small talk involved, of course, and introductions from our side. The sphinx didn't volunteer his name, though.

I have copied down the riddles here in their entirety for neither myself nor my companions could guess the correct answer after a few hours of consideration.

First riddle:

I’ve locked a silver ball
within my open maw
I wet it with the swill
that I drank from a well

I roll it in my teeth
and smear it underneath
the purity I plague
extends beyond the page

Second riddle:

the prettiest cat
in all of the town
she searched for a hat
that looked like her gown

and then she found one
right under a tree
away from the sun
amongst some debris

The top was dotted
the same as her gown
the bottom slotted
and fit like a crown

she danced all around
deliriously
but then she laid down
right under the tree

and there the cat stayed
so it has been said
but where she once laid
there now is a bed

Despite the promise of gold and riches from the sphinx, we could not ignore our mission to determine the fate of Varnhold and its hapless residents. We gathered our supplies, mounted our horses, and rode off to our eastern borders in early afternoon.

This is the second part of the journal for game session held on September 29th, 2012. The party explored the northern hills of the Nomen Heights.

26 Pharast, AR 4714

For the past several days, we have been exploring the hills and plains east of Amalur's current borders, mostly following the river Shrike upstream. We followed the course of the river through the hills, and encountered several waterfalls and cascades. The first of those was the Shrike Cascade, a huge set of waterfalls just east of the colony's borders. We spent the day exploring the area, while Jadrick, strangely enough, set up a small tent and pulled out an easel, a stand, some paints and brushes, and painted the waterfalls. It rained continuously through most of that first day, keeping us wet and in short tempers.

Past the Shrike Cascade, we moved northward into the plains near the Brevoy border. We entered a region covered in tall green grasses. Here we encountered a number of beautiful women with green skin and grassy, mossy features. At first glance I thought them to be dryads, but Fiona corrected my misunderstanding; they were in fact blodeuwedd, dryad-like fae protecting the grasslands. We approached them cautiously and greeted them, and they responded. Strangely enough, the blodeuwedd knew us by reputation so the introductions did not take long. Jadrick took his time greeting each blodeuwedd personally, and chatted with them amicably. Our conversation with the green guardians of the plains was relatively short and we kept to general topics. They showed some interest into the recent events in Amalur while they told us of the occasional traveler crossing the open plains and of any points of interest nearby.

Finally we moved on, even as Jadrick seemed to be making several new fae friends. At times I am astounded by the attraction my gnomish companion seems to hold for women of any species; I honestly do not see what all these females see. We reminded Jadrick that our exploration mission needed to continue, and we bid our new blodeuwedd acquaintances goodbye, riding on.

It took us the entire day to map the grassland area and survey the land for possible farms or settlements. The skies had cleared by that point, and we camped in the open fields not too distant from the place where he had encountered the blodeuwedd. The next day we rode northeast, encountering more open fields and plains. With the most remote, outlying farmsteads from Brevoy just across the border, we took the time to explore the area properly. We found no monsters or creatures of note, but we did mark the land as having good potential for farming and expansion of our colony.

From there we moved south once again, reaching the hilly river Shrike watershed by early afternoon. The river enters a series of cataracts or falls, called the Crooked Falls, in this area. Each fall features a small waterfall or a drop of ten to thirty feet, and there are five such falls over a course of just under a mile. Shrike's tributary, Crooked river, flows into the Shrike at midpoint between the second and third waterfall. These falls as well as the Shrike Cascade downstream make the Shrike a poor choice for a river trade route between Brevoy and River Kingdoms to the south. Most of the trade caravans thus choose to travel west of Greenbelt, past the Narlmarches.

Since Jadrick didn't bother to spend time painting this particular river landmark, we rode on east, following the river. Sometime around mid day we found a small wooden fort, looking abandoned. Valter commented that the fort usually guards Brevoy's southern border, but that the recent growing tensions between Issea and Restov likely caused the recall of soldiers stationed here. Our brief examination of the fort indicated it was abandoned a few months ago in a swift but orderly manner, leaving an empty fortification with nothing of value remaining inside.

Following Shrike river further east, we rode up to the South Rostland road, adjacent to the fort and following the general trade route from Olegton to Restov. The road mostly follows the river on the northern bank, and generally marks the southern boundary of Brevoy in this area, except for one stretch of territory between the fort and the Natanz Crossing outpost, which is currently uninhabited and unclaimed by any nation. From this point we moved south, entering the hills once again.

As we were passing a forested hillside, we found a huge nest with several very large eggs in it. Loud squawking interrupted our journey as three giant eagles descended from the sky and attacked us. Valter was the first one to react, firing a devastating volley of arrows and felling one eagle right from the sky, the body crashing on top of a tall ridge above us. As the birds swooped past us to attack, Trill managed to trap one eagle in a large net, while I used the web dweomer to capture another eagle between two trees. Knowing the eagles are intelligent, goodly creatures, I pleaded with Jadrick to use his dimensional door spell to take me to the downed eagle, as I intended to try and save its life.

Alas, the eagle was already dead by the time Jadrick cast his teleportation dweomer and took me to the top of the ridge. The other two eagles managed to free themselves from the net and the web, and flew away (although not before biting Percy rather savagely). I felt saddened as the sudden fight had claimed the eagle's life; the eagles did not deign to speak with us and simply attacked without warning. Fiona then took the giant eagle eggs from the nest; she mentioned something about raising them properly herself and how these eagles will not return to the nest now that their mate was dead and we had defeated them.

After some grumbling, I convinced my companions to try and find the escaped eagles and convince them to return to the nest. We spent the entire day searching for the eagles without success and finally gave up, camping in a small valley near the nest. I suppose we have little choice then; if Fiona does not help these eggs hatch, they would be eaten by predators in short order. As she is our expert on plants and animals, I trust her judgment.

1 Gozran, AR 4714

Pleasant weather followed us as we rode east along the South Rostland road into Brevoy once again. We stopped briefly at the Natanz Crossing, a trading post where the road branches and leads to Varnhold to the south and Restov to the east. There were a few interesting minor magical items available for sale at the trading post, such as potions, scrolls, and even a few wands of simple dweomers. However, the prices were fairly steep and we didn't need any of the items offered, so we continued on our way after a brief rest.

After several more hours of easy riding, we reached the city of Restov. The city hasn't changed much in the four years since my companions and I set out from here to explore and colonize the Stolen Lands. The people were welcoming and pleasant, and although my family hails from the more distant reaches of Rostland, higher up in the mountains, I was happy to be conversing with fellow Rostlanders once again. On the other hand, the few Isseans I talked with were sullen and opined that Amalur colony was full of traitors and near-traitors. I guess you can't please everyone. We took rooms in one of the better inns close to the city center, the Gilded Wagon; I paid for myself and Saffron. We all decided to take up this opportunity to rest, wander the city, handle a bit of shopping, and perhaps catch up with the news from Rostland and Brevoy as a whole.

Light took off as soon as we had arranged rooms and stabling for our mounts, saying something about needing to do some shopping. Fiona also left on her own, presumably to seek advice and food or gear needed to raise the giant eagle chicks when they hatch. Saffron and Belle wanted to go shopping as well, and they more or less dragged me with them. We spent most of the day browsing through various shops and stores. Restov is a trade hub and the capital of Rostland, and as such has almost any item imaginable for sale by one of its many merchants and traders. Lately, strange mechanical devices imported from the distant Numeria seemed the newest fashion; there were peddlers hawking them everywhere in town.

The girls were happy enough to look through clothes and such, while I bought some high quality cold iron bolts and a masterwork cold iron spiked gauntlet for myself. The bolts were a precaution in case we should fight more fae, and the spiked gauntlet was to be a replacement for my dagger, allowing me to bash any enemy rushing me or trying to grapple with me. Admittedly, the gauntlet was inspired by the great success Light has enjoyed so far in busting limbs, ribs and heads using his enchanted pair of brass knuckles, with potent anti-fae enchantment cast on them.

I also purchased a few more flasks of holy water; given my theory that Restov was suffering from an infestation of undead, it seemed only prudent. While I did talk with quite a few people on the streets, nobody knew anything about the undead problem. It is possible that I was wrong and that Temple of Abadar in Restov was simply stockpiling anti-undead armor and weapons against future need. But then again it is also possible the threat they faced was being kept secret, to avoid mass panic. There was no time to investigate this in any detail, however. We all returned to our inn by early evening and enjoyed good food and better wine before going to bed.

During the morning on the next day, we heard rumors about a terrible death of a prominent nobleman in the city. Apparently, the nobleman was killed in a fire that raged out of control in his mansion late at night. I fear this is simply more evidence there is something wrong beneath the peaceful facade Restov presents to travelers, perhaps even something to do with the undead threat. I was also anxious about the body of the giant eagle we had killed a few days ago; we left it high on the ridge and forgot to bring it down and burn it for fear of zombie contagion. However, we had a mission of our own, and we departed Restov well rested by mid-morning.

We rode back west until we reached Natanz Crossing outpost again, from where we changed direction and moved southwest, back into the hills near Shrike river. The road going south is supposed to lead to Varnhold; for the time being we followed the road as it twisted along the eastern bank of Kiravoy river. As we were riding along, we noticed buzzards circling in the sky. As such sight usually indicates an animal carcass or other kind of a dead body, we decided to investigate. The buzzards flying above led us to a body at the base of a deep ravine.

The body was that of a young human male, in his late twenties. He was dressed in fine traveling clothes and wore a mother of pearl brooch around his neck. Fiona investigated the area and concluded, based on the tracks nearby and the injuries on the body, that the cause of death was an accident. The young man probably tried to climb the steep ravine wall and fell to his death, breaking his neck instantly. It seems that he had been running when he slipped and fell to his doom, judging by the tracks he left behind. The condition of the body indicated the young man died a few weeks ago. Trill recognized the brooch as belonging to Tomin Hanvaki, a young aristocrat from Dreidendorf.

Apparently, young Tomin was traveling to Varnhold when he disappeared; we decided to take his body and bring it back to his brother Edrist in Dreidendorf. Trill even recalled some talk of a reward – I wouldn't say no to coin either way. We wrapped Tomin's remains in some linen wraps and placed them inside our bag of holding.

Nothing of any note happened for the next three days or so. We kept steadily exploring the hills nearby, moving south and following the course of the Kiravoy river upstream toward Varnhold. It started raining occasionally as we rode, making us huddle in our coats. On the fourth day out of Restov, we reached a sturdy stone bridge crossing river Kiravoy and going southwest. The bridge was newly built but it didn't seem to have been used much. There was no traffic of any kind going in either direction on the Varnhold road. We were alone aside from the deer spotted grazing in the hills.

Once we crossed the bridge, we started encountering the occasional farmstead or cottage, all abandoned and empty of life. The farmlands here were part of the Varnhold settlement, and it seems they were abandoned at the same time as Varnhold itself. We found no clues or traces of life in the farms, despite spending most of the day looking into each house, hut or cottage along the way. The incessant rain that kept pouring the entire day and dark, overcast skies put us all into a somber mood. I suggested that we camp in one of the abandoned farms before we move into the mountains north of Varnhold, and nobody argued with me. We found one suitable farm shortly before sunset, and camped there, relatively dry and protected from the rain.

7 Gozran, AR 4714

Given that we didn't care to visit Varnhold at this time, we simply passed east and north of the town and moved into the mountains looming over the whole area. Our rate of progress was greatly reduced by the terrain; the mountain had steep slopes and treacherous trails, and there was no road or path to guide us. While exploring the area, we stumbled upon a fifty foot deep chasm, crossed by a bridge made of rope or webbing of some kind. At the bottom of the chasm flowed a small river, which we identified as the Red Kiravoy, a tributary to Kiravoy river proper. The walls of the chasm were riddled with shallow caves; from our vantage point on top of the chasm we could not peer inside them. What drew our attention, however, was a body of a long-dead dwarf on the other side of the chasm, a glowing warhammer still held in the dwarf's hand.

My companions were unsure on how to proceed, as the webbing bridge did not look very sturdy, but Light ended the discussion abruptly when he simply tried to cross. The webbing bridge collapsed under his feet but Light managed to jump back and avoid the deadly fall. The fact the bridge was a trap became obvious immediately thereafter as spiders swarmed from everywhere, attacking us, and several ettercaps appeared out of the caves on the other side of the chasm.

Fortunately for us, the chasm itself prevented the ettercaps from engaging us directly, and we dealt with the spider swarms on our side of the chasm handily. I levitated myself above the fray with my magic, while the rest of the party managed to take out the swarms. Fiona and Saffron were instrumental in this task, using magic to scorch and burn the spiders away. The ettercaps threw nets at me, and one managed to entangle me with it, but this did not save them from my fireball, which burned and scorched everything in its path. Spiderweb caught on fire easily, and fire spread along the chasm wall, causing the entire chasm to erupt in flames in short order. Spiders poured out from openings in the wall, futilely trying to escape the inferno. Valter finished the fight by shooting the remaining ettercaps dead with accurate arrow hits.

After the fight, Fiona flew over the chasm in her air elemental form, and found a small cave just behind the dead dwarf. There was a chest with a good amount of gold and copper coinage in the cave, and Fiona also retrieved the glowing warhammer from the dead dwarf's body. We continued our exploration of the mountains while sharing tales of creatures that are said to inhabit them. Fortunately, we encountered no other foes on that day, or the next. The mountain around us took the better part of two days to map properly, and Trill regaled us with stories from ancient Iobaria, telling grisly yarns of cyclopses slaughtering entire villages and disappearing into the night. He mentioned Vordalak is an ancient Iobarian cyclops name, and I made sure to note it down. I did identify the warhammer as holding a moderately strong enchantment guiding the weapon to hit harder and better.

Next, we decided to travel east along the Brevoy border. We crossed the Kiravoy river and continued riding into the hills. It started raining in the middle of the afternoon, and just as were starting to get thoroughly drenched, we rode into a small valley between the hills. As we were passing a small copse of trees, a bull mastodon charged at us from the undergrowth. The mastodon was a young adult male, according to Fiona, but no less dangerous at that. Standing almost 15 feet tall, the mastodon struck a fierce figure, threatening us with its huge tusks.

We scattered in near panic as the mastodon charged, but we weren't fast enough to avoid the charge. The huge bull simply trampled half the party to death, goring Percy with both tusks and nearly impaling Jadrick through his torso. However, the mastodon got stuck past its initial charge, trying to turn around between two trees, and we quickly cut it down with spells and arrows and blows. Mastodons are herbivores but young males are very territorial and we had unwittingly stumbled into this one's territory. There have been stories of small parties ravaged by such beasts, leaving only a few survivors to flee for their lives. This one, however, proved mostly to be an excellent source of meat and tusks.

Fiona had to spend several hours directing us on how to chop the carcass into pieces and how to get the best meat out of it. In return, we chopped and sliced and obtained a very large quantity of quality meat as well as the tusks, which ought to fetch a good price back in Amalur. The next day, we rode down from the hills into the open plains and continued our journey eastward, slowly mapping the area. Spring was obviously coming to the highlands; we could see many flowers dotting the ground in clumps, making the brown and gray terrain riotous with color. The day after, we were in large open plain in the eastern section of Nomen Heights.

Weather turned to cold once again, and Fiona used her magic to protect us from the cold with the endure elements dweomer. The open, flat terrain here was dotted with the occasional grassy mound rising up from the ground. It was nearing sunset when we encountered a number of eight foot tall mounds of loose stones, arranged in a spiral pattern. Each mound was connected to the ones on the left and the right by a three foot wall of stones. Trill told us this place was most likely a burial site for Iobarian centaurs. We approached the site carefully, weapons at the ready.

Our cautious approach was justified moments later, when several flying creatures appeared from behind the mounds of the burial site and flew straight at us, making a strange roaring noise. Several of us with training in arcane matters recognized the flying creatures as stirges, evil blood-draining flying demons. In addition, we saw several manticores, lion bodies with humanoid heads, scorpion tails and leathery wings, charging at us from inside the burial site. There was no attempt to talk; we were well aware of the evil of these creatures and their abrupt attack left little place for doubt.

The battle went well for us as despite their terrifying appearances, both stirges and manticores proved vulnerable to arrows and spells. A few of my companions were struck by our foes, but we took no serious injury and Fiona was able to deal with the stirge poison after the battle.

We found a small pile of treasure in a nest near the center of the burial site, containing a large amount of copper coins and a magical chain shirt with a minor protective enchantment, which we stored in our loot bags. I also took the time to chop off a number of manticore quills, as Trill reminded us of a bounty on such quills issued by an eccentric poet back in Amalur. We spent the rest of the day searching the plain for more burial sites but found only the occasional isolated mound.

This is journal entry for the game session held on October 6th, 2012, part one. Here we explore the Nomen Heights and encounter the centaurs.

12 Gozran, AR 4714

Even with various lesser injuries slowing us down a bit, we continued exploring along the Brevoy border. We traveled northeast and then south, crossing featureless plains covered with tall grasses for two days, searching for any locations of interest. We found only more grass, as far as the eye can see. At the end of the second day since Light's departure, he caught up with us as we camped for the evening on a tiny hill, barely 20 feet higher than the surrounding plain. Light was dressed in a strange new suit, covered with a heavy garment that looked as if something used by beekeepers to prevent bee stings. When I asked him about it, he simply shrugged and remarked the suit was of the latest fashion in Brevoy.

The next day we moved back west, completing a large circle and encountering more blodeuwedd fae, clustered in several groups in areas of tall, thick grasses. We spent a day riding slowly through the area, and Jadrick took the opportunity to chat with every blodeuwedd we encountered. I talked with a few as well, and they proved knowledgeable about the events on the plain, but could not offer more than vague hints about Nomen centaurs or other groups of people inhabiting the Heights.

Continuing our journey we traveled west into a hilly area. The borderland between Dunswar and Tanser Ravine was covered with numerous low hummocks of grassy mounds, and we passed by several such. As we rode through a shallow valley, I heard a strange chittering sound coming from a nearby hill. Before I could call out a warning, a horrible pony-sized giant spider popped out of a hole in the hillside and attacked Trill with his mandibles, trying to bite. Trill somehow dodged the attack, and I recognized the spider as the trapdoor spider, calling out a warning to the rest of our company.

Suddenly, a number of trapdoor spiders surged from their hiding holes in the ground nearby and attacked us in concert. We weren't entirely surprised and managed to avoid the first strike. Trill danced back, out of his foe's reach, and started to sing an inspiring ditty, to help us overcome our natural fear of these horrible creatures. As we engaged the spiders, a swarm of wasps arose from the ground nearby and attacked us as well.

Despite the near-surprise spiders enjoyed and their trapdoors which allowed them to pop out and strike, and then retreat to their lair, we killed all of them and dispersed the wasp swarm after a short and intense fight. The creatures proved no match for our magic, arrows and teeth and fists of Percy and Light, respectively. After crushing our foes, we investigated the burrowed lairs of individual spiders hiding behind cunningly made trapdoors of grasses and dirt. The trapdoor spiders apparently secrete valuable spidersilk, which we gathered, netting about 60 square yards of the material. We also found scattered coins, gems and jewelry, likely the remains of previous victims. One of the pits contained a partially eaten human, still wearing a magical cloak and boots. Both were of elven make, with the cloak's strange grey fabric helping the user blend with the environment, staying hidden, while the boots were imbued with magic assisting the wearer with all sorts of acrobatic jumps, leaps, rolls, and such. I claimed the boots for myself as nobody else was interested, and as I have some passing skill in the acrobatic arts myself.

We spent the rest of that day exploring the hills near the trapdoor spider lair, but found no other spiders or other creatures of interest. The next day found us in more hills, moving south and slowly exploring. Sunset on that day was a deep and impressive red, and there was a strange tang in the air. Fiona frowned and spent some time watching the sun fall under the horizon and simply staring at the hills. She warned us the signs pointed toward a big storm coming our way, in a day or two at the most.

Although Jadrick and Saffron seemed inclined to argue that Fiona might be wrong about her weather forecast and that a storm wouldn't be an issue anyway, Light and I were in full agreement that we needed to seek shelter right away. In the end we all agreed to try exploring for a short while longer, and if the weather started to worsen, to head back for Varnhold.

21 Gozran, AR 4714

Fiona's predictions of a big storm coming our way proved correct the very next day after she warned us. Temperatures dropped rapidly, the skies darkened, and a stiff wind began to blow. We raced west to Varnhold and reached it after a day or so of hurried riding. We entered the abandoned settlement just as the storm was gaining in strength, and moved into the one house built into the side of the hill with the fortress.

Varnhold was abandoned, seemingly the same as we left it the previous month. We led our mounts and pack animals inside the house, and secured the small wagon with heavy rocks, and then barred the door to the house. The storm hit within minutes, and we spent the next two days huddled inside while the winds and the rain raged outside. There were times when we feared the hurricane-force wind would tear the entire hill apart, but our shelter endured.

Trill kept our spirits up, or perhaps merely kept us distracted, by telling many scary stories, of ghosts, monsters, undead creatures, and the like. He has a seemingly inexhaustible repertoire of tales and anecdotes, and he has traveled extensively across the lands. Belle and myself were practically enchanted by his tales and I took the time to pen some into my notes as they were too interesting to rely on my memory alone. Saffron listened attentively for a few hours, but then grew bored and went back to studying her spells.

We were all relieved when the storm passed us by, moving west. Our wagon wasn't damaged due to our precautions, and we were ready to continue our journey shortly after breakfast. Varnhold didn't fare as well as our protected shelter; several houses were almost destroyed by wind and debris, fallen trees and thrown objects were everywhere. Fortunately, the storm dispersed the terrible stench of rotting animals in town so at least we could breathe freely.

After the passing of the storm, we rode east once more to continue our journey. One day passed uneventfully, and we reached the plains area where Fiona first sensed the recent storm. From there, we slowed down, walking instead of riding, as the terrain was covered with strange furrows scaring the grasses in the area. The furrows and the sinkhole-like depressions in the earth and soil made riding treacherous, so we dismounted and walked instead.

As we walked along one of the deeper furrows, we heard a rumbling in the earth. We had no time to act before a gigantic beast, known as a bullette, burrowed out from the ground and attacked Trill. Poor Trill was ripped apart in moments and killed, while we still gaped, shocked by the sudden attack. Jadrick cried out in agony over the death of his companion, and we sprung into action. I rummaged through my pack and took out the scroll of breath of life, which Jadrick immediately used to bring Trill back from the dead. The bullette took to attacking us from below ground, using its favored tactic of burrowing from underneath and trying to bite and claw its prey into bits, before disappearing below the ground once more.

The creatures was hard to describe; some refer to it as a land shark, as it had a triangular, pointed head with many sharp teeth, but it is also covered in hard scales and brownish hide. It had four stumpy, thick legs with large claws on them, and it is very well suited to living undergroud, burrowing through the soil in search of its prey. Trill later told us the bullette senses vibrations such as those from a person walking on the ground as a kind of sight. This particular specimen was larger than any we'd heard about, and its sudden and ferocious attack was nothing short of terrifying.

We rallied against the monster, and I levitated myself and Saffron up into the air with my magic, to avoid being bullette's chew toy. Fiona and Jadrick summoned earth elementals which followed the bullette through the ground and forced it to surface, where our entire party rained blow and spells upon the creature until it crashed onto the ground, dead. Jadrick was particularly merciless, flinging spell upon spell and even screaming in rage as he brought his morningstar upon the bullette, finishing it with a vicious blow the eyes.

Following our victory, Fiona healed Trill from the brink of death, and once he was recovered a little, he identified this bullette as Kankuratta or World Chewer, well-known in the area for the many deaths it had caused over the years. Apparently, the local centaurs usually like to test their bravery by running through the furrows in this region, hoping to avoid Kankuratta. I cut off a few claws from the monster as souvenirs. Trill was not the only one injured by the monster as Percy, Jadrick, and Valter suffered serious injuries as well. We rested and healed for an entire day and then spent another day searching through the furrows, finding nothing else of interest.

Our expedition continued moving east and south, following the slowly rising plains of eastern Nomen Heights. On the second day after our encounter with the bullette, we ran into another mastodon. This time we made short work of the beast, as Jadrick created a pit to slow it down, and we simply overwhelmed it with spells and arrows, even as Light and Percy finished it off. Some of us were mildly injured by the encounter, but nobody complained about the great amount of meat and fine tusks we were able to harvest from the carcass.

The following day we turned more to the west and rode through the plains, when we got ambushed by a small group of centaurs around noon. These centaurs all bore the forms of shapely women, with horse-like lower bodies, armed with javelins, spears and swords and wearing leather armor and wooden shields with horse-like motifs drawn on the shields. The centaurs numbered about half a dozen, and had somehow managed to hide in the shallow valleys in the gently rolling plains, rushing from their hiding place to attack us.

The centaurs yelled at us, telling us to leave or die in common tongue, but gave us no time to respond or retreat before attacking. As we fought, Jadrick and myself used the dweomer of black tentacles to trap several centaurs and hold them, the shadowy magic crushing them as they tried to escape. The centaurs kept yelling, saying that a tribe of thousands of centaurs will attack, that we were Varnhold scum and that we must leave their land. I decided this was not a fight we wanted to have and called for our retreat, so we quickly moved to flee in the direction we came from. Light covered our escape, but it ended up completely unnecessary as he somehow managed to defeat several of our foes by himself, while being surrounded! His fists and feet practically flew in all directions, and centaurs screamed in pain, unable to strike back at our agile companion.

After several centaurs fell, either to Light's capable fists or to our attacks, the rest grabbed their fallen sisters and galloped away at full speed. We decided not to charge after them, but followed their tracks instead. Fiona transformed into an air elemental and flew high up in the air, observing the terrain ahead, to warn us of another possible ambush.

We followed the tracks for about an hour, when Fiona flew down to warn us of an approaching party of about fifty centaurs. We stopped to meet them, and as they approached, I was yelling out in common tongue that we're not from Varnhold, but from Amalur, and that we're not enemies and that we wanted to talk. I even used my ghost sound cantrip to yell really loudly, hoping to avoid another needless fight.

The centaurs approached and surrounded us, while I kept talking. They were led by a strikingly beautiful red-haired centaur mare. She moved closer to us, flanked by two of her warrior sisters. I admit to staring quite a bit; the centaur leader was not only beatiful, but had a sense of presence about her. She addressed our party in the Sylvan language, calling us the humans who had slain one of her warriors. She pointed to Light and said she would speak with him, and asked us why the settlers from Varnhold had been quiet recently. I tried to talk to her, but she ignored me. After a few tense moments, it became apparent the centaurs were under the impression Light, as the apparent elf, was Amalur's king; that Saffron, also as an elf, was his betrothed; and that humans and gnomes in our party were his slaves.

I grit my teeth and retreated, letting Light and Saffron take the lead and converse with the centaur leader. Apparently, her name was Aercora Silverfire, and she was the leader of the Nomen centaur tribe. The conversation was fairly straightforward, and after Light described the death of one centaur warrior at his hands as “honorable”, tensions dropped a bit. Light asked Aercora about faeries, and she told us of the First World, as her tribe had heard rumors of a great fae presence affecting our world. She assumed the silence from Varnhold was due to the evil power from the mountains. Apparently, her centaur tribe was sworn to protect the world from this power.

She mentioned losing her longbow to Varnhold settlers, and Saffron had the presence of mind to recall that she was wearing the intricate longbow of centaur make we had found in Varnhold, so she offered it to Aercora as a gift. It was the right thing to do, as it happened; the bow was the missing one and Aercora offered her assistance in locating and combating the great evil from the mountain as a reward. The bow's name was apparently Skybolt and it was Aercora's family legacy. Light asked Aercora to accompany us to fight this great evil, and we even offered to restore the life of the fallen centaur warrior mare. Aercora had this to say:

“I've already lost a lot due to the village of Varnhold. Although we care to stop the evil from spreading, we will not sacrifice ourselves in this fight if Varnhold is to come back. However, my daughter was foolish enough to seek this evil out. She has not been back in a long time; if you could return her to us we'd be most grateful.”

Aercora also indicated her daughter would likely be willing to help us fight this mountain evil if we rescued her. Since Aercora and her tribe were unwilling to go to the mountain and fight directly, she offered her knowledge of the location of the evil power, the tomb of Vordalaka. However, she decided to throw an impromptu celebratory feast first. At her signal, more centaurs came from a distance and started setting up camp around us, while the warriors surrounding us relaxed and mingled with the rest of the tribe. Some two hundred centaurs soon set camp with us in the middle. There were many more females than males, and few older ones around. They carried tents and set them up in minutes. Saffron overheard some centaurs complaining that times were hard and there was not enough food for a feast, so she and Fiona offered the mammoth meat we had gathered from two mastodons we had slain recently.

The massive quantity of mammoth meat was soon roasting on spits over fires, and centaurs shared their wine with us. They set up games and races; Light took part in one race and won. The centaurs were stunned to see a two-legged elf outrun them, but I suspected Light had used his strange powers to improve his already impressive running speed to win. I tried repeatedly to strike a conversation with several centaurs in the elvish tongue, which most were familiar with, but they generally rebuffed me. Apparently, elves were treated with respect, and humans were not. Jadrick was mostly ignored instead of being casually despised, and I admit to being somewhat relieved that his almost legendary charm with the females did not work so well on the horse ladies.

Aercora spoke to Fiona privately in druidic language, and later remarked in elvish that she wondered why was our “king” so inept in diplomacy, while his human “slave”, or myself in other words, had to whisper his lines to him most of the time. Fiona admitted that I was really the ruler of Amalur and Light was one of our ministers. Aercora was not very surprised – it seemed that she knew more of the outside world than her fellow centaurs. She marked the tomb of Vordalaka on the map for us; apparently we were to first go to the valley of the dead in front of the tomb. Her people do not travel there, she noted. She warned us about a great linnorm worm (which is a kind of a landbound dragon) and a ghost stone near the valley of the dead.

She also spoke of a tribe of blue-skinned fae creatures living in the mountains. Aercora suspected they might have been behind the attack on Varnhold, and mentioned their lair in the mountains south of Varnhold. She described them as evil and we took her warning to heart. The rest of the day was spent wandering the plains and talking with the centaurs in their camp. They never became really friendly with me, Trill or Fiona, but they mellowed out a bit after food and wine so I gathered some tribal legends and stories from them.

The following day we bid our centaur friends goodbye and rode west. We explored the plains for one day more before deciding to stop, our expedition complete for the time being. Having located and contacted the Nomen centaurs, we journeyed back to Amalur to conduct our administrative duties which we had postponed in favor of this expedition. Two uneventful days later, we rode into Dreidendorf without much fanfare.

This is the journal from the game session on October 6th, 2012, part two. This part is mostly kingdom building.

30 Gozran, AR 4714

Government work never stops, or at least that is the impression I get from these abominably boring Council meetings. Monthly tax receipts, discussions about the trade routes, infrastructure upgrades, feuding among the noble houses, various requests for audiences with this minister or the next... they all dragged on and on, until I was ready to burst. Luckily for my peace of mind, Belle appeared and led me out of the meeting to discuss her plans to redocorate the castle reception room. As much as I don't care about castle decorations, Belle is much better company than most of the Council and I can relax and listen to her for a change, so I went with her.

For the past week, we had directed various Amalur governmental workers, and results were generally positive. Our engineers and surveyors had completed claiming an extended area of the plains on our eastern border (covering two demesnes), some hills on the southern border, and the lizardfolk village southwest of our capital. We gathered our heads together and answered the waiting sphinx with “pen” and “mushroom”, our responses to the two riddles the sphinx had posed to us. As our answers were correct, the sphinx handed over the wagon with treasure, and left, after congratulating us. The gold and valuables from the wagon went straight into our treasury.

I ordered roads to be constructed in all newly claimed areas, as a strong road network is vital to trade and rapid troop movement both, which I consider important enough to invest in on a regular basis. The Council also finally approved the funds for construction of city walls, and a massive building project started in Dreidendorf. In several weeks, our capital will be ringed by stout walls on all sides and walls will also separate each district from the rest, allowing for our defenses to be layered in case of an attack. The wall construction was mostly funded from the sphinx treasure and larger than expected tax receipts, indicating a good trading season. Amalur is peaceful otherwise, and we have no issues with unrest at the moment. Trade in magic items remains brisk, but I've scarcely had the time to look into what was being made and sold this month; suffice to say that the fees from the sales continue to swell our coffers at a generous rate.

We did sell what loot and items we had gathered from our expedition; my share of the coin was sufficient for the purchase of a brand new lesser rod of extension. This magical rod will help my spells last longer, which should keep my magical armor protecting me almost the entire day with but a single casting. The rod was available for sale in the magic shop for three thousand gold pieces; I didn't quibble over the price and purchased it outright. We also delivered 50 square yards of spidersilk to Chamaie Lerian, a local weaver who was asking about it. She gave us a cloak with a strong protective dweomer cast on it in return. We brought back the mother of pearl brooch belonging to Tomin Hanvaki to Edrist, his brother, a local aristocrat, along with his brother's body and the news of his demise. Although Edrist was distraught, he listened to our tale and gave us three thousand gold for the news and the brooch, after thanking us for bringing his brother's body back for a proper funeral.

I also tackled the issue of marriage laws at this time. Brevoy law, which we had been using by default until now, is generally directed toward humans and the more conservative elements in Brevoy. As our colony is racially and culturally diverse, the marriage law needed to be adjusted to meet the customs and needs of our diverse population. For example, according to Jadrick, gnomes frequently enter into group marriages, while nixies and centaurs, on the other hand, live in small groups of one male and several females, led by the dominant female. While these groupings are not exactly identical to the Brevoy notion of marriage, such examples led me to revise the current law to allow for such arrangements to be legalized. Thus, from now on, a marriage is defined in Amalur as any grouping of males, females, or others, who wish to enter into a permanent community with tax benefits and family relations for sake of inheritance, taxes, and custodial rights. There will be no limitations on race, gender, or number of participants in this family or marriage, however the community likes to call itself.

I took a break from writing the new marriage law to look over the city from the tallest tower of our seat of government, Fort Chomper. It is nearly noon, but the city and the adjoining Tuskwater lake remain wreathed in thick fog. Only the tallest rooftops and the occasional city square peek from the filmy mist; the forested hill overlooking the city looms over our capital. These spring mists are uncommon but enduring and thick when they arise from the lake. We might have to establish street lamps at public expense if these foggy days keep happening; if folks can hardly see where they are going, trade is going to be impacted and that's not in our common interest.

The legal proclamations will be distributed tomorrow, and hopefully there won't be too much grumbling from some of the less tolerant human supremacists we have in the outlying farm communities. I admit that Melianse drafted most of the actual text of the law as she seems to have a gift for that sort of a thing that supercedes mine. I've spent some time in the past week with her, enduring repeated lessons in diplomacy, posture, and dealing with emotionally unstable individuals. Her lessons are slowly paying off and I am getting better as time goes on. I need to talk more with various community leaders in the colony, to keep in touch with their concerns and what common folk are talking about. My companions and I spend a lot of our time closed off in meetings, or adventuring, and sometimes we miss the obvious because of that. We must do better; the lives of our citizens are in our hands.

7 Desnus, AR 4714

Light has suggested a novel arrangement for governing our colony – we could schedule the appointments and critical Council meetings in the two weeks at the very end and beginning of a month, back to back, and this would allow us to have six weeks in between for travel and exploration. I am very much in favor of this idea, not only because it reduces the time I must spend working as Prime Minister, but because as we travel farther away from our colony, we need more time just to ride around instead of exploring.

The new marriage law proclamation went into effect last week; while initially there was little reaction, apparently my new law has roused the ire of several groups of mostly human peasants. Led by their village elders, they demonstrated in Olegton and Dreidendorf demanding the return of old marriage law and proclaiming that marriage was holy and arranged by the gods; one man, one woman, and no other combination was allowed. The whole affair became a bit of a circus, really, with the human peasants protesting against the law and several groups of kobolds, gnomes, and some nixies protesting the human protests. Luckily there was no violence other than some rotten fruit hurled one way or another. I hope this affair blows over quickly, and Light is already in action – he has kept a close watch over the protesters and arrested a few who looked like they were ready to cause trouble.

While the unrest has had the merchants grumbling, the impact on our income has really been negligible, and I do think the protests will die down in short order. The farm work doesn't stop because someone wants it to and the peasants will go back to their farms soon enough. The law is to remain as I proclaimed it – I have no intention of buckling under the pressure. My vision of a nation where many races, creeds, cultures and beings can live together in peace is too important to have some ignorant peasants stand in its way.

Our surveying crews continued their work, settling our claims in three of the remaining unclaimed forested areas in the north and south, and the last unclaimed section of hills south of lake Tuskwater. We built farms and hamlets in the recently claimed plains in the east and two hill valleys in the south as well as building roads through most of the newly claimed forest and hill areas. Construction continued in Dreidendorf, with a new barracks building in Newton district, a granary next to existing mill in Fort Chomper district, and another one in the Seaswag district. We also funded the construction of two watchtowers in our capital, as well as a library and a public stable in the Fort Chomper district.

I have been spending a fair amount of time with Belle; almost every free moment that I have from government work. She is curious to learn new things about us mortals, and likes to explore. I accompanied her as she flew around the city, talking to people and playing with children. She has decided she likes to sing in front of an audience and has taken to occasionally singing in Dreidendorf's taverns. I accompany her when she goes out for her safety; in some ways my azata familiar and friend is still a bit naïve and I fear for her in the rougher sections of town.

Saffron has been busy crafting a few magical items during the past two weeks; she's made a magical quiver called efficient quiver for me, and has worked on upgrading Fiona's headband of wisdom to be more powerful. She's almost done with the headband; reporting it will take her two more days until it is done. We will likely head out on another expedition soon anyway as Saffron can finish enchanting the headband on the way.

Two days ago a huge fireball flew over Dreidendorf and burst, raining shards of a silvery metal all over the city. We determined it was a rock falling from the skies, and the metal was identified as mithril. There was almost no damage as the pieces that fell were small but very valuable. The wealth literally falling from the skies drew the attention of our citizenry from the recent marriage law affair and will hopefully keep them occupied long enough to forget about the protests.

This is the first part of the journal for our game session held on October 20th, 2012. Here the party explores the hills and mountains around lake Silverstep and Talon Peak.

16 Desnus, AR 4714

With the various bureaucratic duties out of our way, my companions and myself set out to explore the land beyond our eastern borders, traveling south and east this time around. We rode through the sparsely populated hills south of lake Tuskwater and then turned east, crossing the Amalurian border marker in later hours of the afternoon. From there we moved east through the rising hills, roughly following the course of a small river upstream. We spent the next day exploring several small valleys and ridges, finding nothing of interest save a few suitable places for small hamlets or isolated hill farms.

As we turned southeast, we saw the tall, sharp rocks of the Talon Peak mountain looming above us. Climbing the mountain slopes wasn't easy, especially with our mounts, but Valter had some decent skill with climbing and I could of course use the levitation dweomer to overcome the worst of the impassable rock. Even Belle helped a bit, flying above us, hauling rope and securing it to allow Valter to climb faster. As we were halfway up the mountain, the skies darkened suddenly and a storm broke out, pouring heavy rain on our heads. We chose to persevere against the wind and the rain; the occasional lightning striking in the distance did not deter us. I lit some of our equipment with the light cantrip to provide illumination, Fiona protected us from the worst of the cold and rain with a communal endure elements spell, and Jadrick had Percy hold some of our heavy bags to make the ascent easier on the horses.

We finally reached a set of a jagged stone ruins at the Talon Peak summit. The ruins looked like a sharp claw protruding from the peak itself. As we had earlier heard the Talon Peak was a nesting place of a huge bird, we proceeded with caution. Fiona was the first to spot the gigantic nest, partially hidden by a rock overhang near the highest point of the mountain. A roc of truly gargantuan proportions was sitting in the nest and staring at us, crying in warning as we approached.

While I pondered the wisdom of fighting a bird of such monstrous size, Fiona suggested that she try and tame the creature, or at the very least make it better disposed toward us. She noted the rocs were intelligent enough to at least try this approach. Since nobody else was keen to approach the monstrous creature, we huddled under a partially intact stone building and watched to see what would happen. Fiona slowly came nearer the roc, and started to croon or perhaps cry in a strange voice. The roc responded in similar noises, and then they apparently conversed for a while.

Our druidess took her time but eventually finished her conversation with the roc, coming back to our temporary camp. She explained that the roc was willing to let us be for the moment, and I saw Valter sigh in relief. Fiona asked that we camp here at the Talon Peak for a few days as she wanted to make friends with the roc. As we needed some time to properly explore the area anyway, we agreed this was the best approach.

For the next two gloomy and overcast days, we climbed over and around the mountain, mapping its various heights and narrow valleys high in the cliffs, while our druidess conversed with the roc. In the end, she happily reported the roc was satisfied we were not a threat so we were free to explore and roam the mountain at will. We agreed to leave the giant bird alone unless we could find a way to entice it to become an ally.

Having successfully mapped the reaches of the Talon Peak, we moved south into the hills overlooking a huge lake with crystal clear waters. We had obviously reached lake Silverstep, one of the largest lakes in the Stolen Lands. The northern shore of the lake meandered up and down, creating many deep bays and jutting peninsulas where hill ridges drove into the lake waters. The flat-bottomed valleys between them were covered in bushes and occasional copses of evergreen trees.

Our exploration of the area was interrupted when we encountered a huge, 15 foot long viper-faced lizard in one of the smaller valleys. It was shuffling forward on thunderous elephantine limbs, with a serpentine maw on end of a long sinuous neck, razor sharp fangs, and a powerful tail moving in rhythm with its bobbing head. Wicked spikes jutted from its body at several places, and scores of quills could be found on the beast's flanks, bristling outward with menacing intent. My studies of magical creatures were rewarded then as I immediately recognized this creature as a peluda, an immense dragon-like beast.

Peludas are terribly dangerous predators, kin to dragons, and like dragons, they can breathe fire on those unfortunate enough to tangle with them. They can shoot their poisoned quills at their prey; their only weakness is their tail as severing it causes great blood loss which kills the beast quickly. I was the first to react to this menace by casting a haste dweomer over our party; Saffron was right behind me and tried to burn the peluda with a scorching ray spell. Her spell fizzled out as it hit the creature; I didn't have time to warn my apprentice this threat was resistant to magical dweomers of all kinds.

The peluda wasted no time in attacking, breathing a cone of sizzling flames and burning Saffron, Light and Percy pretty badly. In the ensuing melee, a lot of our spells proved ineffective agains the beast. It was brought down by Percy and Light working in concert, and Valter peppering it with arrows. Even Jadrick bravely charged the peluda and pounded on it with his morningstar. Our victory proved costly, however, as Light and Percy had been struck by several poisoned quills. Most of us were also burned or injured by the peluda's claws, teeth or the powerful tail slap.

Percy recovered from the poison easily enough, but Light got paler and weaker by the minute, gasping for his breath and kneeling on the ground. Trill's magically fortifying chant didn't help much, and neither did Fiona's minor cantrip of resistance, to help stiffen Light's ability to shrug off the poison. I was forced to root through our saddlebags in panic, until I located the jar of restorative magical ointment we had recovered from Varnhold some week ago. I applied the ointment generously against Light's injuries, and waited until it started to work.

Fortunately for us, the ointment worked as it should have, and neutralized the poison, likely saving Light's life. Light was still very weak from the poion, however, and we used our one potent potion of restoration to help our monkish friend recover.

Given the extent of our injuries, we needed time to rest and heal, so we spent an entire day camping at the same spot. Fiona worked her magic and with her able assistance and a day spent mostly resting, we were back in good shape on the next day. As I managed to escape injury in the battle with the peluda, I wandered around a little bit and soon enough, I located the peluda's lair, in a small cave nearby.

The loot we gathered from the cave was pretty significant. There was a large pile of assorted coinage, alexandrites, sapphires, pearls, and other gems, as well as a magically sharp glaive, enchanted leather armor with minor protective dweomers, and a scroll of remove sickness as well as a potion of hiding from animals. Light took upon himself to remove several of the peluda's quills, presumably for their poison content. I personally wouldn't touch them for fear of poisoning myself, but Light seemed to know what he was doing. The pile of treasure made almost for a small hoard, which made sense as the peluda are distant kin to dragons who are well known for hoarding valuables.

For the next two days we slowly moved west through the hills near Amalur's borders, and mapped the area in some detail. After returning to the border, we turned south and crossed the Gudrin river using our magical folding boat. Gudrin river flows east to west, coming down from the mountain range dividing Greenbelt from Nomen Heights, and flowing into lake Tuskwater. South of the Gudrin river were more hills, which we explored, going back and forth in a regular pattern, mapping the area for future settlement.

Some 20 miles south of the Gudrin river, we crossed the Little Solium river, which like the Gudrin flows from the mountains east of Amalur to the waters of Tuskwater lake. As the hills here rise in altitude, they get drier and vegetation grows sparser. All in all, we spent four days exploring the hills between the two rivers, before camping for most of the day due to incessant rain.

As I write this, we are camping on the southern shores of Little Solium river. The small copse of trees keeps us partially sheltered from the heavy rain. Most of the day has been fairly dark, with heavy clouds covering the entire sky. Night will be falling soon but it is hard to tell with no sun to judge by. Saffron, my apprentice, has been wise enough to memorize the dweomer of tiny hut, conjuring a small hut for us to rest in for the night.

Today is my 22nd birthday. Had we been back in Dreidendorf, perhaps the girls would have organized a party on my behalf; Melianse would surely insist that the birthday of the Prime Minister required a ball of some sorts, while Belle and Saffron would entice me into a shopping spree for a new robe or perhaps a new doublet. Fiona might even join them; for all her aloofness, she does enjoy the more mundane things in life occasionally. Even so, we are not in Dreidendorf, and a quick peck on the cheek from Belle as well as some well-wishes and congratulations from my companions here in the wild will do just as well.

I wonder sometimes where my life is going. I seem to have accomplished a lot; I've helped establish Amalur as the largest and most prosperous colony in the Stolen Lands; I'm a Prime Minister of a budding nation, and have more power and influence than most nobles in Brevoy. And yet, this is not what I really wanted to do with my days. Somehow, the time is passing swiftly and my studies in more exotic magic, my desire to travel the world, always seem to take a back seat to the realities of rulership and practical dweomers and spells. I will need to look into ways to extend my lifespan if I am to have enough time for all the ambitious things I want to do; time that I simply do not have.

25 Desnus, AR 4714

After my somewhat uneventful birthday, we continued exploring the hills south and east of Amalur's borders. For three more days we trudged across the hills near the border itself and mapped the area for future settlement. On the fourth day, our journey was interrupted by another thunderstorm, which drove us to take shelter under a small cave overhang in the hillside. As we waited for the storm to pass, Fiona seemed to be listening to the wind and the rain, until she told us she was hearing a strange unsettling sound. According to her, it was almost like a whispering coming from a number of directions.

She was of course curious, and explored the back of the cave, where she noticed numerous shallow holes. Wind blew through these holes and generated the unsettling noise we could all hear now. Fiona looked deeper into these fissures and found glittering tangerine colored crystals inside. Our greed was aroused by Fiona's discovery, and we spread around the hill, looking for more of these fissures. Surely enough, most of the hillside around the area was littered with these holes, containingtangerine crystals. It was a sizable deposit of gemstones, and we all agreed building a mine here could be a big benefit to our colony. We took most of a day to discover the extent of these crystal deposits.

From there we turned back north and paralleled our previous north-south exploration course along the border, going further into the hills this time. We reached lake Silverstep's southern shore after another day of slow exploration in the hills. The southern shore of the lake was somewhat less jagged and much more easily accessible. Trill recalled that Beven Armaki, a local innkeeper in Dreidendorf, had announced an eel bake recently and had specifically asked for a delivery of two dozen fresh silver eels. The same eels could only be found in a few places in Stolen Lands, and lake Silverstep was the nearest source. As Armaki had offered an enchanted buckler as a reward for eel delivery, we decided to try our hands at fishing in the lake.

We did discuss a way to keep the fish we caught in fresh condition, and so we agreed simply to keep them in one of the chests built into our magical folding boat. Our entire party tried fishing in different ways; Valter tried shooting fish with arrows, Percy waded into the water and snapped at nearby fish with his teeth, and Light even tried hitting the fish with his fists. Fiona, of course, knew what she was about and took Trill's net from him, managing to catch one nicely-sized silver eel after several hours of trying.

Fiona shooed Percy away as he was scaring the fish, gathered some local berries, and then used the goodberry spell on them. With goodberries as bait, Fiona's luck changed dramatically and she was able to catch another five silver eels. As it soon became too dark to continue fishing, we stayed at the lake for another whole day while Fiona fished. Since none of us were particularly skilled sailors, we decided to camp at the lake shore for the second night lest we run aground or damage our boat sailing in the dark.

The following day we sailed under clear skies down the Gudrin river all the way to lake Tuskwater and then to Dreidendorf docks. We took the silver eels, still fresh, to Armaki the innkeeper, and he gladly parted with his enchanted buckler in exchange for the fish. The bake was going well, apparently, so we decided to spend the night in town and rest up a bit. Tomorrow we will head out once again, sailing the boat upstream back to lake Silverstep, where we plan to continue our journey of exploration on the northern shore.

This is the second part of the journal for our game session on October 20th, 2012. In here the party explore the mountains of Nomen Heights some more and returns to our colony laden with loot.

8 Sarenith, AR 4714

We crossed lake Silverstep in our magical boat in a few hours. After landing on the northern shore, we rode into the hills north. About a quarter mile from the shore, we found a large muddy plain. While we were tramping around the mud plain, humanoids apparently made from mud arose from the ground and attacked us. Saffron recognized them as mudmen, created as both water and earth elementals.

The mudmen were about a dozen in number but were struck down in a short time; Jadrick's black tentacles spell was particularly effective in grappling and crushing them. We explored the mud plain for about a day or so and found a well preserved corpse hidden within a mud pool. It was mummified and wore trappings of a Taldarian captain of horse from a long time ago. The corpse held a satchel with a carefully wrapped and preserved platinum idol of a grinning skull-life figure. As it was worth almost a thousand gold pieces according to Saffron, we kept it. We piled the corpse on a makeshift pyre and burned it to ashes. I hope the soul of this long-dead Taldarian finds its way to the afterlife with no hindrances.

From there we moved north and east into the mountains. As before, Valter led the climb and I levitated us when it proved necessary. Normally we'd simply follow the rope Valter laid behind him. We spent a couple of days exploring the mountains and located the origin of two streams flowing down from the peaks.

We continued our journey deeper into the mountains, crossing into the peak just south of Varnhold to the southeast. This particular area was marked as dangerous on the Varnhold fort map. During our exploration, we discovered a deserted cave. By looking around, we determined with Fiona's help in tracking that this was where spriggans used to live before they moved on to Varnhold itself. Since the cave was deserted, we simply continued mapping the mountain range. For two more days we climbed up and down mountain valleys, finding nothing more interesting than the origin point of another stream, this one flowing north into the Nomen Heights.

Amalur's 4th founding anniversary came and went as we traipsed across the mountains. I hope the colony celebrated the event appropriately. As the mapping of the area was complete, we then moved south, climbing down into the hills, and spent one day mapping them as well. Past the hills, we climbed back into the mountains southwest.

The mountain here overlooked lake Silverstep, and we did locate one stream that flowed into the lake. We were attacked by a flying roc early in the morning; it was a specimen smaller than the one atop Talon Peak. Saffron was badly mauled by a surprise fly-by attack; but then Jadrick created an illusionary wall to partly shield us from further such attacks. Afater that, what with Saffron's fireball, Percy flying, and Fiona summoning a giant tiger which apparently could also fly, we finished off the roc quickly. The roc's meat was not very suitable for food; we kept a few edible pieces and destroyed the rest. The roc's attack did not deter us from mapping the area, which we completed after four more days as we kept moving southwest and climbing another tall mountain peak.

The next mountain peak we climbed was to the southeast, and we encountered another large creek here. Past the creek, we found a depression in the ground with a stone altar on one end. A hissing voice accosted us from nowhere, apparently, asking for help in Common tongue. Talking to the voice, we determined it was a female phase spider, and that it was being menaced by nearby group of xills. The phase spide offered an ornate wooden chest it had found as a reward for killing the xills.

According to the arcane lore I'm familiar with, phase spiders are intelligent and largely amoral. They're not evil by nature, and they phase between the ethereal and prime material planes. Xills, on the other hand, are in fact extraplanar devils, are evil by nature, and exist to implant their eggs in humanoids. They have many arms and like to fight, wearing strange metal armor and wielding many strange metal weapons and bows.

We agreed to help the spider after a brief discussion. I cast the dweomers of shield and protection from evil on myself, and then we proceeded down into the depression with the stone altar. The altar was a gray rock monolith made of polished rock, about 15 feet in height. Trill related the stone was known by the locals as the ghost stone. At night, apparently, it glows with a soft radiance, and strange unnatural ghostly shapes whirl through the air in the depression.

Unsurprisingly, the xill did not bother to talk with us. They attacked as soon as we approached. There were five of them, and they seemed almost drunk and uncoordinated in their movements. We showed them no mercy and swiftly cut them down with no casualties on our side. After the xill were killed, their bodies simply crumbled to dust. Apparently, this is common among extraplanar outsiders as their essence somehow tries to return to their home plane. The phase spider was true to its word, and dragged a large, ornate chest from an apparent hole in mid-air, and handed it over to us. The spider grinned and disappeared afterwards.

The chest was locked with a complex lock so we decided to get it open later, preferably by a competent locksmith from Dreidendorf. Fiona was intrigued by the stone monolith, and used a stone shape dweomer to try to open it, believing some sort of a chamber must be hidden inside. All she achieved, however, is to create a door of stone upon the monolith's surface. A wail arose from the monolith, and some semi-transparent ghostly shapes flew around the monolith for a few moments, and then they sped straight for the altar. After they hit the altar, there was a booming sound and the altar cracked on one side.

The soft glow that had been permeating the monolith up until then faded away, and our careful examination with a detect magic cantrip showed that whatever power was present in it had fled. Even as I doubt this was intended outcome, I wasn't entirely displeased – we had at least neutralized a potentially dangerous magical object, even if we didn't really understand what it was.

It took us another two days to explore the remainder of the area, and then we rode west, down from the mountain to lake Silverstep. Once there, we unfolded our magical boat and sailed downriver all the way to Dreidendorf, arriving back to our capital near sunset. It was good to be back home.

16 Sarenith, AR 4714

We managed to open the ornate chest given to us by the phase spider with the help of a master locksmith. Inside the chest, we found a wand of dimension door dweomer with 22 charges, and a ratty spellbook with thirty spells in it, from various circles of magic. The chest itself was apparently the target of a secret chest dweomer, one of the spells inscribed in the spellbook within.

After some discussion, I took the wand, while Saffron took the chest and the spellbook in her posession, with the intent of scribing the spells and copying them to her own spellbook. The chest will serve handily as the focus of the secret chest spell, allowing us to store items within which would then be safe on the ethereal plane for a month or two, until Saffron summons the chest back.

We sold the loot we had gathered during our latest expedition and spent a few days recuperating from our long journey. I commissioned a new cloak that helps the wearer resist hostile magic from Saffron, of moderate enchantment level. Jadrick also asked Saffron to craft him a belt of giant strength, one at low levels of enchantment. The two commissions have kept my apprentice busy crafting through the whole past week or so.

I also purchased a buckler shield made of mithril, as well as ten alchemical silver crossbow bolts of high quality. Our entire party trained hard to prepare for another expedition; I mastered the dweomers of resist energy, stinking cloud, wind wall and confusion, after a lot of practice. Saffron studied hard and learned the same spells from me, as well as reporting she had researched the spells of scrying and solid fog; I purchased a scroll of erase dweomer for her and she transcribed that one into her spellbook as well. My diplomacy lessons with Melianse continued, and Belle, strangely enough, was interested and took part in the lessons as well.

Both of us had discovered by this time that our original spellbook was getting close to full, so, using her newly learned erase spell, Saffron and I purchased a couple of travelling spellbooks each and carefully copied our spells into the new spellbooks. I admit all this spellwork reminded me of Waldendorf monastery – I learned to master my magic amid those walls, among the monks, wizards and scholars living there. Their methodical approach to scribing spells and research did not fit me well in my younger years, but now I found myself instructing my headstrong and impetuous apprentice in the benefits of carefully considered approach to learning magic. The irony of my position did not escape me.

The dweomers found in the ratty spellbook from the secret chest ranged from common to strange and unusual; I had never encountered a few of the more unusual ones. The most valuable were several spells from the 5th circle of magic. Neither Saffron nor myself were capable of casting such spells yet, and among them were the fabled teleportation dweomer and the permanency dweomer, the mainstay of many powerful enchanters. I am looking forward to mastering such spells as I find useful from that spellbook. For the time being, since copying them into Saffron's spellbook would cost thousands of gold pieces in proper materials, she will do her best to memorize them from the original source.

I had a local craftsman make a tiny replica of the large ornate chest to serve for the secret chest spell; it is a necessary focus for the spell. It cost me a good fifty gold pieces, but it should pay for itself eventually. I gave the replica to Saffron to use when she is ready. My apprentice also proudly announced she had learned the basics of the giant language, which she had started studying once we decided to move to explore Nomen Heights. I commended Saffron on her initiative and efforts, as the knowledge will come in handy sooner or later.

The hubbub over the new, tolerant and open marriage laws I had enacted last month had finally gone away, and things are once again peaceful in Amalur. The magic object trade is brisk as usual; Jadrick took it upon himself to purchase a potion of water breathing and a scroll of magic jar dweomer. The scroll is of some interest to me as well; the spell of magic jar has a bad reputation in the arcane circles. Some even claim it is a favorite tool of evil necromancers to kill off entire towns in one night. I suppose I should investigate such claims at some point – we still haven't found the necromancer rumored to live in the area.

Our surveyors claimed the stretch of hilly terrain along the Shrike river with two massive landmark waterfall regions, to the east, as well as a stretch of two hilly regions parallel to Little Solium river, going east. This southern expansion allowed us to claim the region with the tangerine crystals in it, and initial work has already begun in opening a mine there. Based upon Fiona's advice, we had opened the groundworks on a new city to be built at the abandoned elven keep in the Narlmarches, on our western border. It will take our engineers the better part of two months to complete the clearing work, but the keep itself will function as a usable castle with only minor repairs, giving us a defensive position in the west. I expect the new city to be ready for construction by the month of Arodus; Fiona will choose its name.

Construction continued unabated in the rest of Amalur – we built a new brewery and a jail in Dreidendorf, as well as two new mills along the lake, a townhall, a new barracks and a temple dedicated to Erastil, all in the Newton district. Apparently, the demand for beer had risen to the point a second brewery was a good investment, and we needed new mills for the grain to feed the growing population as well. Our engineering crews constructed roads in all newly claimed areas, as well as helping to establish farms in the two districts on the eastern plain that were still left fallow.

The fair weather and decent trade helped our tax receipts, keeping the treasury well stocked. I am happy to note that Amalur is doing well and I hope our good luck will continue in that regard. Given the stable state of affairs in the colony, we are planning to leave for another expedition of exploration in Nomen Heights tomorrow.