| Ragendar |
This journal is the property of Bishop Spillane
Toilday, 18 Gozran, 4714
My reflection upon the previous day is as follows: I received an urgent summons from Tandrel Undoeth, a councilor of the Grand Council of Absalom and an acquaintance of mine. He is concerned about tremors afflicting Qadira in the south east, which have been traced back to a recently exposed chasm southwest of Katheer. Tandrel has tasked me with scouting the inside of the chasm and discovering the cause of the violent tremors. He’s given me a budget with which to bring together a crew and buy the resources needed to excavate the chasm. I’ve recruited two dwarves named Dubrin and Edinyar, as well as a young elf boy named Cardriel- well, young as elves come. I was hesitant to bring Cardriel, as he is young and inexperienced, but he was very insistent that he come, and even offered to do so without pay. I didn’t have the heart to leave him, nor did I have the heart to make him work unpaid. He seems a sturdy young elf, and I’m sure he’ll do more good than harm. We’re taking a ferry to Katheer at the end of the week.
Fireday, 21 Gozran, 4714
We’ve just arrived in Katheer. Much of the trip was spent with Cardriel berating Dubrin with questions about mining, rocks, and what place the dwarf comes from. Dubrin answered the questions with a level of enthusiasm I’d not have expected from him, whilst Edinyar seems to be the more irritable type I know in my experience. I’ve found us a guide who’s seen the chasm and is willing to take us to it. We’ve acquired two ponies, a horse, and a cart and will begin the next step of our journey early tomorrow morning.
Starday, 22 Gozran, 4714
I awoke today to a tremor. The apartment that myself and my crew occupied shook gently for approximately six seconds. I wondered when I’d have a chance to experience one of Tandrel’s tremors, but I honestly hadn’t expected to experience one in Katheer, many miles from the supposed source. I talked to the keeper and found out that the tremors had been occurring randomly throughout the day since the beginning of the month. This is a strange phenomenon to be sure. We’re to begin our journey once we collect our things and manage to get Edinyar up from sleep.
We’ve arrived at the chasm. More of an abyss I think, but that may just be the light of dusk playing tricks on my eyes. We’ve navigated around to the western side of the chasm and set up camp for the night. Cardriel chooses to sit outside by the fire. This suits Edinyar just fine, as he’s chosen to usurp the elf boy’s blanket.
Sunday, 23 Gozran, 4714
I awoke to a terrific earthquake this morning. Unlike the one in Katheer, this one was violent and lasted three times as long! I was shocked at first, being shaken from sleep in such a way, and to have my tent collapse upon me. Once the realization of the occurrence settled in, I calmed myself and waited for it to end. The only one who was not rattled was Edinyar, who again managed to sleep through the ordeal. We’ll begin our descent into the chasm once Dubrin manages to awaken Edinyar and we’ve been well-fed.
I shall try to recount the actions that have led up to my predicament. We- Dubrin, Edinyar, Cardriel, and myelf, began scaling the western side of the chasm. It was a difficult climb, but we were exceedingly cautious. No amount of caution however could have prepared us for the ensuing rock slide. Though we all survived relatively unscathed, we lost our lifeline to the world above. We sat, stranded in the abyss with no choice but to continue down. A few yards further and we found something extraordinary. Carved into the rock was an arched doorway. It was of a simple design, carved into the rock, and though I couldn’t establish an age I do believe it is quite old. That’s when Dubrin pointed out something peculiar. The ground before the doorway had been disturbed previously, and dirt had been tracked inside.
We elected not to try our luck on the walls anymore so long as another option was present, and so we began a lantern-lit trek through an unnatural tunnel. The tunnel floor was smooth, and it descended and curved off to the left like a ramp. It was not long before the tunnel stretched into a cavernous room. That’s about the time we became aware of many things clicking in the darkness. We grouped into what we believed to be the center of the path, as the clicking echoed around us. Cardriel was the first to see them. They sat far out of the range of our lanterns, faint glows coming off of walls and ceilings. He whispered to Dubrin, and the dwarf hesitantly turned off the lantern. The clicking tampered off, and in its place we were left with hundreds of glowing lights across the walls and ceiling. They appeared as large insects, and their thoraxes lit up with a soft green glow. I’d seen similar creatures in my career, but at most six. We were standing in the middle of a hive! We quietly passed through, and they didn’t stir again.
Long after the glows faded in the darkness behind us, we reignited our lantern and continued our trek until we came to a point where the path split four ways. We considered what path we should take, considering that splitting up would be far too risky- especially with our limited light source. Cardriel heard echoing footsteps from one of the paths. We debated whether or not this was a sign that there was safe passage ahead or danger, and decided that we’d follow the retreating creature rather than take our chances in the dark. Maybe if we’d chosen differently, my circumstances would be different.
We’d been walking for quite awhile before we started seeing signs of the creatures. At first it was just the tapering footsteps, until we started finding husks of dead insects, stripped of their outer layers. It was at this point that I considered proposing we turn around, but it was too late. We were ambushed by strange creatures, resembling both dogs and ugly rodents. They fell upon us from all around, through passages we hadn’t even noticed previously, all the while there came strange rambling all around us, and hideous laughter. Edinyar put an axe in one of the dogs, and started spouting out similar gibberish. The last I saw of the dwarf, he disappeared into the darkness of one of the hidden tunnels. Dubrin took a nasty bite to his arm before we were able to flee further.
Dubrin, Cardriel, and I re-emerged out from the tunnels into the chasm, having lost the dogs somewhere along the way. Dubrin’s bleeding arm was breaking out into a painful-looking rash. Cardriel leaned over the dwarf and I was shocked to find the boy performing a spell! I recognized the movements with a sense of vague familiarity, but he spoke in a strange language unbeknownst to me. The dwarf’s wound sealed, and the rash began to subside. I asked the boy how he knew such spells, but he wouldn’t tell me. He shrugged it off as if any elf could have cast the spell with similar ease.
The path ahead was treacherous. We sidled along ledges that couldn’t have been more than a foot or two in length, backs pressed against the wall as if we were trying to sink through it to what would have been safety. Cardriel was the first to cross, he did so with skill. Dubrin went next. As clumsy and stout as he was, he too made it. As I began crossing the gap, the ground was pulled from beneath my feet by a tremor. Before I could react, I was falling. My fingers dragged pointlessly along the rock wall as I glided down the surface. I don’t remember hitting the ground, but when I awoke I could neither move nor feel my legs. Any attempts to adjust my position have been met with overwhelming pain, and I dare not try to flip on to my belly to crawl. I’ve had my time in this world, but I can feel it drawing to a close. May my comrades and who ever discovers this journal find more fortune than I.
Signed,
Bishop Spillane