The Chronicle of Jihen Gurthang [Human Monk]
Year: 2748; The Second Age, September 13th:
My name is Jihen Gurthang. Disciple to Yamamoto Date and student to the form: Shao Ju Ate
I, Jihen, arrive in Shadowdale, searching for a group of adventurers. I have been teleported here from Alphatia [an island south of Shadowdale in Deeping Sea] to here. As I walk around I seem to stick out, being taller than a great deal of the locals, as well as a human monk [Shadowdale is primarily demi-humans]. However, the locals seem to pay me no heed, as everyone goes about keeping to themselves.
The Monastery I belong to has sent me to retrieve the belongings of a fellow monk; I believe his name was Hiro, who had passed on while helping the adventurers I was now seeking. Once I secure his belongings I am to aid the group in completing their quest, as a substitute for the recently departed Monk. Once the task is complete, I am to return Hiro’s belongings to the temple, so that his katana may be returned to his family.
I am able to find the party more easily than I expected. I am quickly introduced while those involved go about preparing for the mission at hand. The party consists of Derngar [Human Cleric], Aldaron [Halfling Druid], Kimmorial [Drow Thief/Magic-User], Eldermarin [Half-Elf Bard], and Remy [Dwarf Fighter]. As the party prepares for the journey I purchase any goods I need in addition to what I am able to use from Hiro’s belongings, such as a crossbow and bolts for ranged attacks, some food, rope, and camping supplies. I also learn how to navigate properly in Bane’s Forest. I donate the money I have left to the local temple and make final preparations for my journey.
Unfortunately, Hiro’s katana is not among his belongings [It had been sold to pay the resurrection costs for party members, so its last known location is the Weapons Smith in Shadowdale], but there is an air of urgency among the rest of the group [The group was under a geas spell], so I decide to wait until the completion of the quest to figure out what has become of it.
I walk with the party into the presence of what someone whom the party describes as very powerful. He beings to prepare a spell and I am told to close my eyes and hold my breath for a few seconds. When I open my eyes I am surrounded by vegetation. Apparently the group has been teleported as far to the source of the quest as possible, but there is still traveling to be done [The demon the group is trying to kill is powerful enough to obscure the area close to him].
It was not long before Remy is hit with a boulder that appears to fly out of nowhere. Looking to the side I see large humanoids [Stone Giants] tossing large rocks at the party. Our formation breaks up and slowly advances towards the creatures. I am able to react fairly quickly and fire off a bolt that strikes one of the creatures, but does not seem to discourage it at all. I am not able to understand the creature, but it looks like it actually laughs [only did 2 damage to a monster with 9+ hit dice]. Eldermarin seems to be having some trouble getting his bolt into his crossbow [he had bought arrows instead of bolts, but did not catch this mistake until later] but Remy gets a few arrows off from his bow. Kimmorial seems to be eagerly animated as he makes gestures and says things I did not understand. Some vibrantly lit energy projects from his fingertips, but then fizzles when they reached near the distance I still am from the creatures [Cast magic missile in his haste but was too far away]. I do not see much of Derngar or Aldaron [Derngar cast sanctuary and tried to talk peacefully to a stone giant to quite the attack while Aldaron flung bullets with a sling].
At this point I become increasingly less confident in my abilities [failed attempt to hide in shadows], which is all but destroyed when a large boulder smashes into Kimmorial with enough force to flatten him against a tree before the boulder rolls back and he falls to the ground [critical hit, resulting in “ass being cut off,” which knocks him unconscious and gives him penalty to abilities and saves]. Derngar moves to him for emergency healing and Eldermarin moves closer to the creatures before spewing forth a large sparkling cloud [cold breathe attack]. I am taken aback by this. It looks like the fiery breathe of a dragon, yet it was white and appears frosty, denoting ice. How is he able to perform such an ability? Then, Aldaron moves up closer and fire erupts, enclosing the giants [wall of fire]. The fire dances about, but in an orderly way, not setting fire to the forest, and also does not seem to be giving off any heat [was facing away form the side that does damage].
Wailing in anger the creatures jump through the fire to near the front half of the party. Melee between the creatures, Remy, Eldermarin, and Aldaron ensues [Derngar continues healing]. My bolts miss, and in the process of reloading I catch Aldaron’s fingertips sparkling out of the corner of my eye before a mass of energy comes forth [fairy fire spell backfired]. Despite my agility the energy knocks me about, severely wounding me and causing me to pause. I see blurry figures ahead of me moving about before another wave of energy erupts [healing spell backfires]. I try to dodge, but the energy is moving faster than my impaired ability to react and I am knocked unconscious [the two backfired spells do a great deal of damage to the stone giants and melee combat with the other characters allows the killing of both creatures, though at the cost of two almost dead party members and everyone else fairly injured].
When I awake everyone else is also up and moving, although Kimmorial seems to be a bit more disoriented. We find a cave behind where the creatures were and in it are electrum, gems, armor, weapons, and a potion. Eldermarin and Kimmorial are able to identify the items [+2 Dwarven chain mail, +1 spear, and a potion that allows hearing over great distances]. We divide the treasure [833 electrum each and one gem for everyone except Jihen, who gets two] and we each take some time to communicate with our respective deities. I have not offered hard currency to my goddess before, though each member of the party has an impressive display of colors and energy as their coins disappear and they seem to become more vitalized. Derngar however seems to look more ill. I decide to communicate and find myself also revitalized [+1 bonus for 24 hours]. The entrance is covered with plants to prevent intruders and everyone rests for some time. I also give Eldermarin some of my bolts, so that he may use his crossbow, and Remy takes some of Eldermarin’s magic arrows with an IOU for money once we return to Shadowdale. The next day we move out of the cave, though slowly because we have to work our way through the plants at the entrance.
We come to a clearing where dark dwarfs [Duergar] are around a stone with an engraving on it. I am unable to read it, but Derngar and Remy spend a few moments to translate and they say it is a warning to go no further because evil lives here. That seems valid to me, because as I scan the horizon beyond the clearing everything appears to be a wasteland. Aldaron tries to restore some trees to the barren land, but nothing happens. The general consensus is that the entire area is void of life.
As I continue to look around I spot figures in the distance to the west and alert the group. The figures are moving fast, but because it is starting to rain in the overcast sky I am unable to make them out. We prepare for an immanent attack, as Derngar has an uneasy feeling. Eldermarin casts a spell on me that hardens my skin [bark skin] to offer me better protection and Kimmorial, much to my astonishment, rises into the air [fly]. As the figures get closer we are able to make out that it is a group of about 30 skeletons. I am a bit unnerved, this being the first time I have seen the walking dead. Where I come from those that died were ceremonially buried, and seeing animated corpses seemed very unnatural.
Caught in my thoughts I hesitate to act, but Derngar walks forward and holds out something [holy symbol] and commands the skeletons away in the name of his deity. Almost instantly a group of the skeletons explode in a fantastic display, something I have never seen before. From the air Kimmorial casts his missiles of magic at some of the skeletons and Aldaron runs up closer to the group and creates another fire wall, this time spreading it out to both sides instead of a circle. I hear more explosions and then there is not much from either side until the skeletons start to walk around the sides of the fire wall. Again Derngar steps forward and commands the skeletons to die, which explode once again in a fantastic array. Another group of skeletons erupts as they are engulfed in a giant explosion of fire [fireball from Kimmorial]. The remaining skeleton is picked off by bolts and arrows from Remy, Eldermarin, and me. As the battle winds down Eldermarin tells me that my bolts seemed to no be as effective as a more physical attack [arrows and bolts do half damage because they are piercing].
Kimmorial narrowly misses being struck by lightning, and having already been on the verge of death from an earlier encounter, lowers to just above the ground [hovering lower to prevent being struck, but still high enough to gain the increased mobility]. The group moves westward again, though Derngar seems to be even more uneasy. I wonder why to myself as we walk. The undead enemies seem to be unable to resist his commanding will, so I think he would be more confident then he currently seems to be.
As we walk further, we come upon an area where figures begin to creep out of the ground. They appear to be rotting corpses [about 24 zombies], again something I have never seen before. Derngar and Aldaron both step up and through a combination of divine will and another fire wall, all of the enemies are disposed of, each exploding in the same fantastic display of color and sound. The might of the group I am traveling with ceases to be a question, as they are making quick work of our opponents. Still, Derngar seems to be uneasy, and tells the group that the undead he turns are supposed to turn to dust, not explode. I consider this as we move further. Perhaps that is why he is uneasy, if the undead are exploding upon being slain, then that means if we have to get close to them we might also be injured [It is eventually realized that the undead have some sort of magic or curse put on them that causes them to explode when slain. This is most likely related to things the demon is doing to the undead he creates that the group learned about before Jihen joined].
We walk further, and at about the same amount of distance traveled as before more figures emerge from the ground [about 24 ghouls]. Again Derngar makes known the will of his god and some of the bodies explode. Kimmorial shoots a spread of magic missiles and everyone else shoots physical missiles. After I shoot my crossbow I take some strides back, away from the ghouls. Thankfully I can move faster than them, which allows me to stay out of their reach as the remaining ghouls close on the group [Kimmorial also dodges them, since he was flying out of their reach]. Remy throws a spear at a ghoul as they come close and the ghoul actually catches it before dropping it to the ground [fumble]. Eldermarin shoots his crossbow as the ghouls approach but it backfires, actually breaking his crossbow as far as I can tell [another fumble]. The ghouls now close in and engage the four less mobile characters in melee combat. Remy swings his sword, Eldermarin lunges with his spear, and Derngar turns undead, killing them all in a short amount of time. Some of the party is hurt by the exploding ghouls, but no one is seriously injured.
After taking a moment to examine any damage Remy reclaims his spear and we continue walking west. After another similar segment of time the party stops as Derngar pauses and looks ahead. I peer where he is looking but I am unable to see anything [shadows, which are more or less invisible to Jihen]. I quickly glance at the rest of the group, and although still uneasy, the Derngar no longer seems to be surprised. In fact, he almost looks like he expected whatever he is sensing [Derngar has recognized the pattern of increasingly more powerful undead as we get closer]. I am not sure if that is a good or ill omen, but I will be sure to ask him after we have overcome this encounter. I have only been out for a day and a half adventuring and already I have seen a lot of astonishing things. As I look ahead as the group readies themselves and I wonder what will happen next.
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