And so it came to pass that goodsir Gabriel had to part ways with the Lions for a time. I am certain he intended that I hand this log to another member of our august company, in fact he said something to that effect "Andor, please make sure so-and-so gets this."
However, as my comrades are not exactly men of letters, I shant be humoring his request. I am certain he shall understand when and if the time comes that I am able to return this journal to him. It was his custom to list the roster of Lions who participated in the recorded events:
Gallatin: The swordsman, student of Vin Carlo, is a voice of modertation when he elects to speak at all.
Glorianna: This casually racist woman-child is a priestess of the Goddess of Beauty. Her virtuous nature asserts itself sometimes, typically to our detriment or inconvenience.
Kuldak: This half-Orc hedonist is a warrior with numerous tricks at his disposal. I am not certain if his disdain is genuine or in jest when it comes to...
Odgryn: The newest member of the Lions, this Dwarf's brutality in battle is exceeded by the brutality of his thick Linnorn accent.
and finally myself, Andor Arceneaux: I am a Transmuter by trade, though the schools of Necromancy and Illusion also interest me greatly. I always seem to be one comment away from a sword in the gut. La, what can one do?
Having discovered that the vagabond noble family House Arkona has the old Seneschal and possibly our friend Vin Carlo in their clutches, we set out to divine the best method of winning them back. We decide to case their palace, a gaudy Vudran affair, before bluffing our way into a meeting with an Arkona scion, Glorio or somesuch.
Left to our own devices in the Arkona's salon for a few minutes, Odgryn and I tried to look around a bit. The manor is a tacky thing, full of gigantic statuary and glamors. The only redeeming thing about it were the flourishes dedicated to the Vudran goddess Chamidu: a multi-limbed terror riding atop a tiger with human hands (a Raksasha perhaps?). Those colorful Vudran gods are far more exciting than our dark, morose deities. More than illusions, I detected divination effects which made me a bit wary. No such luck with Odgryn who was ready to scale a fourteen foot tall statue to pry out an enchanted gemstone when Glorio finally arrived.
Glorio decided to hear our concerns as he bathed, freely admitting to having both Vin Carlo and the Seneschal. As we had only mentioned Vin Carlo, and only in such a way as to not suggest that he might be a prisoner, I concluded that this Glorio expected us or is quite mad. He was pleased to be rid of the so-called Emperor Pilt though, and gave us a Ring of Evasion which we let Gallatin have. He bid us find the two men we sought in his "Vivified Labyrinth," a dungeon said to have rotating chambers in which the Arkona's test their agents and dispose of their enemies.
We agreed to do so, naturally. So we were led to the concealed entrance to the labyrinth and set upon to the descending path to the dungeon proper when we were surprised by four skeletal-fungoid abominations, each taller than a man. Once the battle was joined, Gallatin and Kuldak fell into a familiar combat formations: the Half-Orc tumbled behind one of the giants and Gallatin flanked it. As both warriors had both weapons and limbs empowered by my magic, they were well positioned to destroy it. Odgryn and Glorianna held the line against the other three.
Oh how smug I was, to see the Lions set before our enemies. Other than that embarassing conflict with Pilt (which I confess was my fault), the Lions have generally hewn into their enemies with such skill and precision as has likely ever been seen. How quickly the universe addresses hubris!
The abominations laid down a withering assault, felling Odgryn and soundly thrashing the rest of us. Glorianna's healing powers were taxed sorely, and I was forced to withdraw and magically displace myself. Additionally a noxious yellow spore cloud errupted from the fungoid miscreations and sapped the vigor from my companions. The Lions were destroying them however, and I reentered the fray to further enchant Kuldak with the cat's grace and to enfeeble one of the remaining creatures.
Glorianna kept us all from death's grasp but we realized that even though we had won through, we were tested to our limits before we had even reached the dungeon proper. It became clear that we would need some reinforcements from the rest of the Lions if we were to conqour the Vivified Labyrinth. So smile while you can Glorio, you varlot, we'll have your damned chamber of horrors and then we'll see what we do about you.
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