Zarku's Journal

Here are the collected stories of Zarku Frallino and his companions Serolt, Ninfant Nimbletoes, Ren Yoshida, and Bador Herzwelt, remembered and recorded from the perspective of the young idealist wizard. They are the Heroes of Sandpoint, colloquially known as Ameiko's Regulars, who for various reasons seek to battle the rising evil that has struck their little corner of the world.

Striking the Clock (Page 11)
"Recorded in a borrowed lab at the Stone of Seers"

We found ourselves in the Shadow, under the shadow of the Irespan bridge above us, and in particular right before the non-functional clocktower known as the Shadow Clock. The city of my birth sure does enjoy their shadow word-play. We broke our way in, and found ourselves confronted with a scarecrow like creature, some sort of golem. It was huge, and brutal, but we managed to destroy the life-force within. We made our ways up the rickety winding staircase, only to have one of the bells at the top of the tower dropped on us most cruelly. We survived the clanging assault, and found ourselves fighting shape-shifted foes of the faceless variety once again.

Upon making it to the top, we were assaulted by a most foul demon... which was fortunately determined to be nothing more than an illusion before we wasted much of our energies upon it. Our real foe was cloaked in a veil of invisibility, until she struck. A snake-like creature, towering ten feet above us and with a most wicked spear began her assault. Her very weapon called to the despair in our hearts, but through our combined efforts she was brought to her knees. Her coffers became our own, as well as word that she had a sister in control of assaulting a fort far to the east. That was to become our next destination, but first we needed to prepare for the journey and gather our strength. We shared the information, for which the mayor was truly glad upon hearing that he was next on the list to be sacrificed for his greed. Richly rewarded, we made quick work of our coin to arm ourselves for the battles ahead.

Magnanimously Magnimar (Page 10)
"Scribed on a river-boat enroute to the Shadow"

Our trip by road was relatively uneventful, as we traveled in a caravan with prisoners we had ourselves collected and additional Magnimaran guards. Upon our arrival we met up with the mayor, a man who vividly epitomized the sin of Greed. With him was Justice Ironbriar, an elven man of some influence, and his secretary of sorts. We spoke of what we had dealt with back in Sandpoint and got authorization to investigate the Foxglove manor in town for further clues.

We met a couple familiar faces, that of both departed Foxgloves - Aldern, who we dispatched personally, along with his wife whose shade we slew. Suffice to say they were impersonators, of the faceless monstrosity variety we dealt with earlier. A thorough search of the manor provided details as to an island mill associated with the Brotherhood of the Seven, and it was to that locale we hired a ship and set sail for. Our hopes for being civil were ended when we were assailed by cultists disguised as workers, and as we clambered up to the top of the structure we fought more and more of these creepy colorfully dressed men with masks made of human flesh.

Lo-and-behold, we encountered Justice Ironbriar at the top floor, and it turned out he was the leader of the local cult. He, as were his minions, followed the god of murder and drew power from their faith. Once we subdued the elf, I discovered an enchantment upon his person - a friendship compulsion. Our interrogation led to a full confession, or mostly full. He detailed his crimes, which we were able to confirm from a journal of his after cracking its cipher. We turned him over, and learned that the mastermind of the Brotherhood would be found in the Shadow district, specifically within the Shadow Clock structure. Thus, that is where we go, to put an end to this madness.

Grass and Fire (Page 9)
"Penned in Brodert Quink's laboratory, which I will miss dearly..."

It turned out the town was stirred against the battle-hardened dwarf, but Belor gave us the opportunity to disprove the rumors. Someone wearing Bador's face killed the man, then bragged about it later to a group at an inn. I put out my theory that another flesh-mask had been constructed, and brought out Father Zantus to provide testimony to the fact that such magic has been used already to strike out against the town. I was wrong, but only through a technicality - shapeshifter's were the cause this time. Some sort of swamp monster Serolt had heard of, initially identified by a marsh grass, and while we investigated those who frequent such areas, we stumbled upon Ren that was untrue. We were attacked, and the assault was joined by another wearing Bador's face.

They were fairly easily dispatched, one surviving long enough to be imprisoned. Ninfant invaded the creature's mind as we inquired to it's schemes, and a picture of a woman as well as Magnimar being discovered. We then decided to deal with some unfinished business, starting with exploring Chopper's Isle. We found a familiar negative energy in the ruins of Jarvis Stoot's home, beneath it all. More Thassilonian ruins, and the place where the carver dedicated his murders to what we learned was the demon-god Pazuzu. An echo of the murderer was found, tied to his ritual carving knife, which we quickly dispatched through the quick channeling of life energies. We also found the town's blacksmith's child had been abducted to be a sort of protege of Jarvis, and the undead remnant of the lad with a weird animal skull in place of a head.

We also learned that the legend of the Sandpoint Devil was in fact truth, detailed in the notes Jarvis had left behind. It was said to come in the light of the full moon, which luck would have it was shining bright. Unfortunately the creature was of great magical power, not some simple creature that could do no more than steal a farmer's sheep. It ravaged us with spells from above, and its cry led Ninfant and I fleeing into the night. Hellfires came from its mouth to nearly destroy Serolt, and we barely escaped with our lives. We cannot let such a creature live, but our strength at the moment is insufficient. We have a month until the next full moon, and hopefully we'll be back by then to banish the creature back to the nether planes from which it was born.

A last piece of business was in tracking down a knight who had been harassing the town's local witch. Ninfant had apparently promised her assistance, and we decided to help him take care of this problem. The expert tracking of Serolt and Bador led us far into the forest before the trail was lost, and I was able to use my magics to fly over the forest and try and pinpoint the knight's location by tracking his holy symbol. A one-on-one duel for the witch's honor led to Bador's victory, and he spared the knights life and he swore off his obsession.

Now, we prepare to leave town for Magnimar and look into the troubles this Brotherhood of the Seven is stirring.

A Scarf To Remember (Page 8)
"Recorded after disease-free sleep, in a mainly-disease free bed at the Rusty Dragon..."

Every step into the twisted mansion was one further into madness and despair. We were plagued by foes we could not fight directly, sometimes purging away the curses laid upon the place before they could menace us but usually succumbing to them in some way or another. From being nearly strangled by a scarf, an echo of how we learned Aldern killed his beloved, to fighting the urge to leap out of the window to perish below to mimic how our former friend's father had killed his mother ... every room had its dangers. Through succumbing to the haunted objects, we pieced together the stories of the Foxglove family. Along the way Ninfant disappeared, swallowed by the strange place and we could not find him. We found the twisted husk of unlife that was the remnants of Iesha, his wife, and slew her. We eventually found our way to the lower levels of the decrepit dwelling, where we found a path into catacombs below. It turned out that an ancestor of Aldern, Vorel Foxglove, was on his path to becoming a lich - a ritual interrupted in a way that corrupted the house and perhaps his very bloodline. It was tied to some sort of diseased fungal growth, that we discovered after laying to rest ghouls and ghasts, as well as some sort of horrifying bat creature. At last we found the core of the place, a room with an entire wall covered with the evil-infused fungus - and there was a preserved Ninfant and Aldern himself.

He was obsessed with Ren, and indeed was "His Lordship" that had been killing and leaving notes about town. After a quick exchange of violence, it seemed we broke through some sort of spell over Aldern. He spoke of all that he had done, until the madness overcame him. He slipped on a mask made of human flesh, and transformed into the visage of his obsession. Paladin versus paladin, the true being paralyzed and nearly slain before the scarf of Iesha finished off her insane husband beyond the grave. We learned of a cult, the Brotherhood of the Seven, which most likely is the same group that had worked with Nualia in Magnimar. For that's where the trail led. And a woman named Xanesha had penned a letter to him, speaking of a ritual based on the murders accomplished with the blood drenched Sihedron rune.

On our way out we were plagued by several murders of undead crows, which Ninfant stirred up at first but we all managed to brutalize from the second story windows. Then we rushed back to Sandpoint, Bador and I both affected by some sort of disease. Haste was necessary for the haunted elements we had stumbled upon would be renewed it the seed of evil could not be purched. For that we needed Father Zantus to join us, and that he did with some trepidation. We ran into no further trouble as we led him to purify the region through his prayers to Desna. I was stuck to bed rest for days, while the hearty Bador recovered quickly - and from my bed I learned that Brodert Quink's daughter was in town and asking for me. Apparently Jubrayl Vhiski threatened that if I were not to meet with him to pay him back for some slight he imagined, her father and my mentor might suffer on my behalf.

My friends were good enough to join me in a confrontation with the man, which despite our earnest pleas that his henchmen's death (or pending undeath as it was) had nothing to do with us, did nothing to stem the violence. We defeated him and his henchmen at our meeting point on Chopper's Isle, and turned them into the authorities. Unfortunately a squabble broke out amongst the party that truly wounded Ren's Spirit, as Ninfant's creepiness was bordering on evil in a way that the paladin could not abide by. He departed our company to reflect for a time. We retired, and awoke to more disturbing news - apparently Bador had gone and murdered Sandpoint's butcher.

The Piano Plays You (Page 7)
"Trapped in my mind like so many nightmares within the Foxglove manor..."

Our trip to the asylum did not go smoothly. The caretaker did not welcome our interruptions to his studies on insanity, and he was a bit shocked to see his former patient, Ninfant appear. However, after a show of force that left his burly guards a bit bloodied and unconscious, he became much more cooperative. It turned out his business partner was a necromancer, back from my home town and one of the Gallowed gangers, and we dispatched his latest creations and raided his underground lab a bit for details of what was going on in the area. Turns out an alarming amount of ghouls have started appearing. Once we took care of him, leaving him unconscious but alive as is our modus operandi, we found the survivor of the ghoul attack.

It turned out to be none other than the man who had been watching us earlier, one of Vhiski's minions. He seemed deranged and close to death, and spoke again of "his Lordship". He tried to attack us, but we were able to take him down and even reverse some of the disease that was turning him into a ghoul. Once we arrived back into town, we put the corrupt asylum master and his necromancer friend into custody, and put the diseased agent (still in his straight jacket) under the care of the holy Magnimaran knight that had aided us earlier. He needed resources we did not have in Sandpoint, and the more established churches in the big city might be of assistance.

Disturbing accounts from the nearby farmlands, coupled with our map of ghoul sightings, led us to some beleaguered cornfields. The former caretakers of the land were strung up, on the last legs of a disease that was slowly turning them into ghouls and those that had already passed the line into necromantic infestation. Those still remaining human we saved, those who had crossed the line we dispatched with great efficiency. We came to the center-point of the conflict, a farmhouse where where encountered a nasty ghast and his undead friends - a creature that ended up being related to the estates of Aldern Foxglove who we had not seen in some time. I hold out hope that he is not this "his Lordship" evil going on.

We had to pursue the lead however, and so we came to the Foxglove manor - a place that looked like a place an evil lord would call home. A dark well was outside near the remains of some outlying buildings, which we did not fancy climbing down. We met a piano that sought to play itself before we properly exorcised it with blasts of positive energy, a menacing taxidermy'd manticore, and the feeling of great unease. Even a stain on the floor sought to suck me into it, or so it felt. We heard a woman's scream however, and decided to investigate.

The Perfume of Death (Page 6)
"Scrawled hastily during a quick meal before leaving town for the asylum..."

It was several days we took to recuperate, with me doing my beloved imbuements, but we were fully recovered and refreshed. Ninfant had some business to attend to, yet we found ourselves accompanied by a rigid battle-priest of Iomedae temporarily on loan as a Knight in the service of Magnimar. Personally, I grieved over the loss of Ezakien Tobyn anew, as from Nualia's notes we discovered he was a father who demonized his own child who knew so little love to begin with, and I was pressed to share this with the local congregation as a warning as to how even the most moral figures can do great damage to those they love.

We went back to Thistletop, and this time cleaned it out properly. Serolt found a beautiful steed he tamed, and we collectively vanquished the foul shades we has fled from earlier. We also stumbled upon a flooded section of the stronghold, where we found a most vicious hermit crab that had made his home in a giant golden helmet. A fierce but quick battle ensued, and we stripped what little valuables we found remaining - along with the roasted corpse of the crab that became our heroes feast back at home.

A troubling development stirred as Bador looked into a suspicious fellow who fled us right as we discovered Ameiko had gone missing not so long ago. While he and the battle-priest made their inquiries, the subject they sought came forward to me. Jubrayl Vhiski thought to blackmail me, threatening in no uncertain terms to reveal my continued existence to my blood back in Magnimar. He'll soon learn what it means to cross a scion of Turandorak Academy - especially one backed by such excellent companions. The web he has tried to weave will only result in his own strangulation.

When we awoke the next day, we found that more than threats had come in the night. A double murder, thought to coincide with another from outside of town, led us to a horrible scene. Some serial killer had done a number on a young couple of the town, and we found trace of a supernatural element in what was identified as the strong scent of a ghast. The killer had inscribed the Sihedron rune on the chests of the victims, which did not bode well. We have yet to get any solid information, but we have a lead that a survivor of another assault resides in an asylum out of town. Disturbingly, a note was left implicating a connection to Ren, signed, "his Lordship".

Busting Heads (Page 5)
"Recorded in a little workshop within the demanse of Brodert Quink..."

As we caught our breath before the next rush of foul green little monsters, a little bird quite out of place in the stronghold began flying at us. Serolt seemed to think the creature was supernatural, perhaps some arcanists familiar, and he was only partly wrong. The creature seemed magically compelled to drop off a note asking to "parlay" from the goblins. It turned out it was the tribe's shaman, and he had an offer for us. If we were able to defeat their chief, a fellow obsessed with Nualia and leading his people astray, the goblins would leave peaceably and abandon the area. We agreed, with our usual issues with Ren's honor and Ninfant's more liberal leanings. The result was a duel between Bador and the chief, a manic fellow riding some sort of strange lizard - Serolt later informed me it was a giant variety of gecko. To occupy the rest of us were the force of goblins meant to sneak around us and slay us as we watched... suffice to say their plan backfired. A certain generosity of spirit, mainly from Ren's end, kept the loss of life to a minimum. Bador claimed the chief's head as a trophy, the goblins provided their hoard of "shinies", and we proceeded to seek out the mistress of the place.

Further down within Thistletop, we found a strange sloping chamber tied to the Runelord of Greed. We bypassed a pressure trap, and immediately found ourselves face to face with Nualia and her bodyguard. Some quick talking led him to abandon his mistress, especially when he found out that we spared his wizard friend. He even surrendered his arms to us as we collectively stomped upon the orchestrator of all of Sandpoint's troubles of late. Knocking her unconscious, we secured her and continued to explore. A clever mechanism was obscured in illusion, a tower of coins, where we needed to insert two golden coins to find the chamber within. We found a quite nice set of torture equipment, and a strange key leading to a most distressing chamber.

Scanning the magical-candle lit room, with it's giant rune laid out upon the far wall, I noticed a trace of illusion magic. Pulling out a scroll I had earlier acquired, I set my eyes into the deeper spectrum and discovered a demonic goblin-wolf hybrid. I pretended I saw nothing, closed the door, and then whispered about what we were to face. Since I was the only one who could see the creature, I was handed a bag of flour, which I lucked out with a sold shot against the beast who had crept closer to us. He managed to dig his power into Bador, some sort of charm effect, before the stalwart dwarf shook it off. The battle was not in our favor however, as it was slightly out of phase with reality. Luckily Serolt had some powerful arrow shots, and Bador had some amazing blows that would have felled practically anything mortal - but still the beast came on. I kept on throwing bolts of magic from a wand that unerringly struck the beast but minimally. Everyone was unconscious and bleeding out who could hurt it, but I... and right before it was to claim my life, one last lucky bolt of magic ended it. It sounds dramatic, I know, but it was a terribly close battle in truth.

Feeling invincible, despite how near death and wasted we were, we looted what we could and found the last chamber. It had many statues of the Runelord, and a few spectres of death ready to claim us. I'll be honest and say we fled like rabbits at that point at the sight of them. We retired back to the boat with Nualia and her bugbear follower senseless at our feet, a cramped journey indeed. Turning our captives in to local custody back in Sandpoint, we rested and recovered, attended to our own business, and tried to build up the confidence to finish what we started.

Tolerence and Tentacles (Page 4)
"Stored in memory in a brief respite between goblin raids upon our position..."

Our foray out to face Nualia first set us against a face familiar to me - Tsuto Kaijitsu. He had laid an ambush for us around an altar humming with some sort of ritual I could not quite decipher. Ren challenged him to a duel, which Ninfant did not quite honor through his use of augmenting magics. While Ren and Tsuto dueled blade against fist, the rest of us lashed out against the goblins - I with a mesmerizing burst of colors knocking out a trio, Bador with his usual smashing success, and Serolt's bow felling more. None escaped us, and we spared the traitorous Tsuto. It seemed that Ren was able to convince him he was falling down a path of abuse... from his 'father' to his new 'lover'. He surrendered, and we took him back to town where he and his sister were able to talk before he was put into custody. He shared with us some of what he knew about the forces arrayed against us, some of which we knew from his journal.

That settled, we decided upon a stealthy approach. One side of the island was guarded by a nasty beast, and it was to it we set sail for. Our craft was that of a half-orc fisherman who volunteered to assist us, and we and approached the Thistletop stronghold by cover of darkness. With Serolt at the lead to tie us a rope, we worked our way up with some success and some failure - Ninfant and Bador especially had problems with the rope climbing. While we struggled up, Serolt and his feline friend Regin faced off against a horrible beast alone. The cat was grasped and strangled to near death, a toxin pumped into its system before Ren made his way to face off against the beast. It was wily, and avoided our blows while grasping us fiercely. Serolt was targeted next, and a spell of mine coated him in slick oil that let him escape the maw. While he recovered and started firing arrow after arrow that skittered against the stones, Ren became the next target and was able to successfully fend off the assault. A single arrow from Serolt was all it took at the end, an expert shot that took the untouched beast from full health to death in an instant.

We raided its lair, finding a goblin with a magically augmented hide with the disturbing dog head construction, before continuing on to explore the facility. It was also of Thassilonian make, and we found an abandoned set of rooms that the attack on Sandpoint was planned in. Near the end, we discovered a mercenary wizard Tsuto had warned us about earlier - alone and vulnerable. We struck out, leaving her little chance if it were not for her bugbear companion who burst in on the scene. The combat was fierce, but we were clearly the more powerful and prepared. Both were battered to near death, and their barely living bodies stashed among the remains of the tentacle monster's last meals.

Our next move was a dangerous one - we stumbled upon another desecrated temple to Lamashtu, guarded by demonic hounds. Their howls struck terror in our hearts, but we stood against the fear and remained to bring them down. Only Serolt's Regin fled the scene, mewing like a housecat in the face of a mastiff. It was a hard battle, but we remained victorious mainly through a combination of special arrows of that Serolt shot expertly, a wand of force blasts I had appropriated from the felled wizard, and Bador and Ren drawing the creatures' ire. Both were nearly was dispatched, and would have been if it were not for the administrations of Ninfant or the paladin's own healing.

Unfortunately, the baying of the hounds brought some unwanted attention upon us, and goblins started pouring in. We just finished the first wave, but more are coming... our position is strong, but we cannot keep this up forever...

On Levitating Maggots (Page 3)
"Penned carefully from within his suite at the Rusty Dragon after his third bath to purge the catacomb filth from his skin..."

We decided to keep up the exploration, a burning need to make sure there were no paths that could lead to an advantage by the enemies of Sandpoint. Serolt had headed to the surface to trade for some quick provisions, including Ren's elegant dueling blade he had been forced to temporarily pawn to keep up his style of living here. Every inch accessible to us was scoured, from the cursed chamber the winged beast had escaped us from to every winding path that had a chance of rising to the surface. The original entrance into town, a cave at the bottom of the cliffs that showed evidence of the raiders camp, was discovered as well as a few collapsed stairwells. One of which we traced vaguely to a shanty of a half-orc on the north side of town, which we may wish to investigate in the future.

Every path not part of the strange ruined complex was catalogued and mapped, and then we found our way back to the menacing statue of who we would learn was the Runelord (Runelady?) of Wrath. We continued deeper into the smooth stone structure with it's ancient Thasillonian motifs, at first finding a rope ladder suspended over what looked to be a dungeon of sorts by the cells with skeletal remains within. As we made our way inside, more of the monstrous creatures we had vanquished before dropped down upon us. As we worked to dispatch them, an odd little man who navigated the catacombs blindly appeared, working strange magics that bolstered our courage. Once we finished dispatching them, we learned his name was Ninfant Nimbletoes, who was aiding Father Zantus through his bizarre healing powers. In fact, he had done much to help Ameiko's father survive Tsuto's attack after we had began our search. Once he was done there, he was sent to aid us, and that he did. Together we also faced off against a creepy vampiric head with wings, which ended up failing to sink its fangs into us before it was crushed into lifelessness.

We then stumbled upon a strange room with wooden grates and eerie moaning sounds... it turned out zombies were trapped in pits below us. But we were not the only living creatures in the room, as a monstrous goblin came forth from the shadows. It bore three arms, each with a different weapon. One of which made it clear who he was - Koruvus, champion of the Seven Tooth Clan that Shalelu had warned of us. He was unmercilously dispatched, and his mutant hide stripped bear of its three ears. Ren and I dispatched the pathetic undead creatures trapped below us, and then we explored the last room of import. It was a strange chamber, crackling with energy, runes appearing and disappearing before I could make them out. Within were objects floating... a dead raven with maggots orbiting it, a bottle of wine, a fork-tipped wand, a tome of twisted beasts, and a scroll. It was here we determined that unless we missed a secret door, everything that did not require excavation had been explored.

I for one rejoiced in having a fresh breeze upon my skin again, and over the next couple days we prepared for our journey to face off against Nualia and her minions. Between selling the artifacts we uncovered and equipping ourselves, we all bolstered our strength. This included Serolt acquiring a bow of power that adjusted itself to his physical prowess, Ren and Bador getting their signature weapons reshaped and refined through a priestly blessing, and Ninfant and me creating a magical cloak with a minor warding enchantment. While I chose to not invest in my own gear, I did take the time to learn new spells from the other arcanists in town.

While awaiting the return of the sheriff and reinforcements, I also took the time to share my findings with my mentor, Brodert Quink. With the new findings, we had new evidence of his theory that the lighthouse was actually a weapon of old - the Hellstorm Flume. The rest of the group did not seem nearly as interesting in trying to reactivate it to protect the town, but not everyone trusts that magic of great power can be used responsibly...

Shadows of Sandpoint (Page 2)
Scribbles by the light of Serolt's glowing bow in the tunnels underneath Sandpoint...

We were getting over our first round of alcohol from Aldern's boar dinner, and we thought we'd catch the local show. It was a well done performance, but at it's conclusion we were met with panic. A local woman came with a wailing child, who after some coaxing we were able to get a story from. Her little boy had complained of a monster in the closet for multiple nights, and they only just took the lad seriously after he showed up with horrific bite marks on his arms. He and his mother were here, and his father was investigating the issue - and so then were we. Unfortunately we were too late - his face had been shredded, and his body wedged in a hole that had been scraped by dogslicer in the child's closet. The wasted away goblin we found was a devious foe, but Bador's sturdy hammer was able to end its existence gruesomely.

After calling Father Zantus and the town guard, and alerting them to search all of the closets and listen to the children's mention of monsters, we retired for the evening to our little haven. We awoke to find the sheriff wanted a word with us, introducing us to the famed Shalelu Andosana. From her we learned of the local goblin tribes in great detail, and learned that we were to hold the fort as a force was sent to Magnimar to seek reinforcements. We were to be a presence in town for an already panicked mass of humanity. We grudgingly accepted, despite our desire to check on some leads on the goblin tribes.

After our discussions, we saw a shady looking figure I recognized lurking about the Swallowtail Festival, and after I greeted him he quickly made his way down a side alley. Out of curiosity we started pursuing, but lost him in the crowd. Bador was lucky enough to find, under his boot, a tindertwig dropped from the fellow with the name of the Fatman's Feedbag etched into it. We were going to check in with Ameiko to find out more, when we discovered she had gone missing. Her halfling employee professed her concern over the proprietor, and provided a note from her illegitimate half-elven brother Tsuto. It seems he was accusing their father as being a goblin sympathizer, and instructed her to meet at the family-owned Glassworks to discuss it.

Out of concern of our host, we hurried thereabouts, and found the place overrun by goblins. The workers were killed, and Ameiko's father was incased in glass and nearly so. We slaughtered the goblins, and between a healing potion and my glass cutting tools, we were able to save the cranky old man. He claimed his son did this to him, and seemed to be more grateful than normal despite a falling out with Bador over healing. A priest from town was summoned, and we went off to explore the basement of the complex for clues to the innkeeper's whereabouts. We found her tied up, and got the story from her and fragments of her brother's journal.

Father Tobyn's adopted daughter Nualia was leading a ring of bandits that were stirring up the goblin tribes. She stole her father's remains and used them to fuel a ritual to bring her "mother's" influence out in her. I can only assume she means the foul goddess Lamashtu, especially with what we found further below. Tsuto is in love with her, and serves her, as well as a bugbear and at least one or two others of importance beyond the tribes they have worked to organize. With Ameiko off to help her father, we decided to brave the tunnels and see where they led. We found ruins, an ancient place with evil magic, including a strangely familiar five pointed star symbol. Horrible monsters we fought, one alone and another summoned by a twisted winged creature guarding a dark chapel of sorts. It managed to escape, fleeing our combined might.

Now we rest, before deciding to continue exploring these twisting tunnels or to seek the sunlight.

The Swallowtail Festivities (Page 1)
Notes jotted down after a night of good food, better sake, and wonderful company...

Twas shortly after the ceremonies of the Swallowtail Festival, when my drinking buddies and I found ourselves in the midst of warzone. It was their might and my magic against the little terrors that had smuggled themselves inside the city. We dispatched those goblins around the cathedral, and headed towards the sounds of canine pain to find Aldern Foxglove's favorite hound slaughtered, and a tough looking scoundrel riding on a horrifying rat in the shape of a dog. He managed to escape, but we took down his companions and helped the guard seal the town and clean up the mess. It was then we got called over to the Boneyard to investigate a disturbance. Father Zantus showed us to a little mausoleum, sealed up but with signs of recent traffic. Inside, instead of the hallowed bones of my dear departed friend Father Tobyn, lay the reanimated dead. We dispatched them with all haste, found a magically imbued scrap of fabric, and the mystery was laid before us. The mauseleum had been raided, and the casing for the former high-priest's soul had been taken.

We decided to follow the escaped goblin leader's rat-tracks as far as we could, but the fading light coupled with the wildness of the terrain alluded our dwarven tracker. Weary, and bedraggled, Ameiko fed us and found us beds - she must have been drunk to have offered us free room and board. We woke up as heroes of sorts, and tried to sort our the oddities of the night before. We questioned the mortician and the mayor, and discovered no connection between the goblin raid and the missing corpse. Instead, we were to await the arrival into town of the elven scout, Shalelu Andosana with hope that she will help guide us to the goblin's lair and to further answers. Likewise, the magic of the scrap of cloth we had found is to be studied by Father Zantus. In the mean time, we partook a hunt for our new friend and benefactor, with steeds he gifted upon us. We flattered his ego but setting up the hunt to flatter him, and I earned myself my first sighting of Death's gate by way of a stray boar tusk. I feel much better, but twas scary having to hold my organs in by hand.

Soon, I hope, we'll be able to make sense of this mess.

Prelude
I took another shot of sake just at the punchline of one of Ameiko's bawdy jokes, and felt the pain of the alcohol shooting out of my nose at his poorly timed laughter. Howling, my intoxication dulling the pain but not the indignation, I elbowed the young man on the stool beside me. I could tell that she was trying to make her former suitor, Ren, flash his brilliant scarlet blush. My only wish is that I could have heard the telling in their native Minkaian, a language I had only just recently mastered, but that wouldn't have been fair to the newcomer. The tribal with his mostly tamed wildcat was so dignified and noble - the lack of barbarism overly apparent, matched in drink by the good-natured dwarf in town for the festival.

As the night dragged on, and the place emptied to all all but the bartender and the four non-natives, I got onto telling more about myself than I usually would. "You know, that mayor of ours? She's an angel, a true hero. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be dead or worse." I wobbled on my stool, and would have fallen if it were for a steady hand of one of my companions. "Magnimar, the pit, is a desecration to the monuments of yesteryear! My blood-kin terrorize the worst of it, a neighborhood ruled by fear. I just didn't have it in me to be a part of that, especially not after my damnable parents blew themselves up with one of their drug-making experiments. Bloody fools, they were, who gave their lives to better the Family, and yet not a whit of respect for them. But where was I? Oh yes, the Lady."

I stood up suddenly, waving my arms in the air in a dismissive gesture. The story took some telling, frequently interrupted by Ameiko poking fun at me and the my occasional threat of enchanting her beer to taste more like piss than it already did or other such taunts. But even completely wasted from the imported rice wine, I like to think that I still managed to be completely coherent. After so much drink, I just managed to sound like a sober local instead of my overly educated norm.

My tale continued with the aggrandizement of Mayor Kendra Deverin, as I raved on about how she rescued me from a life of crime and certain death. I went on to describe how I betrayed the trust of my criminally-bent family, saving her from what would have been a long and terrible con. She had been lied to, tricked into thinking she had committed a murder after being drugged at one of the local bars - a common trick they would pull to blackmail petty nobles. Only I had the courage to stand up against such injustice and risk my life speaking up against the falsehoods. Which would have gotten me killed, had my death not been faked and had she not smuggled me out of town on a halfling-sized ship under the employ of her uncle heading towards Sandpoint. Her letter of introduction to the headmaster of the local school and orphanage led me to this town and a better life.

As I am wont to do when at my drunkest, I began to blubber a bit about the kindness the townsfolk had shown me, and how much they put up with my little pranks. Of how generous everyone is in letting me learn their native tongues, from the elven herbalist to the dwarven locksmith, from the Shoanti sheriff to their very own, as I said it, "overly opinionated" Tian bartender. Lastly, how lucky I was to find the esteemed Brodert Quink, my mentor in the old magics and the ancient histories that I exclaimed as being "the height of civilization, the brighter future of progress that we can reclaim!"

Another drink is all it took for me to pull myself back together, and return to joviality.