Journal of Arcadius - Day 68

Day 62:

We learned that the way to help Fflam is to seek out our friend and ally, the cleric of Thor. He unfortunately was still missing somewhere in the north, and we had no idea of how to find him. However, Hrogar, among his many sales and deals in Izmir, negotiated a deal by which our contact the wizard would create for him a magic device... a sort of compass pointing toward the cleric of Thor. It was expensive, but Hrogar agreed to the idea. Certain members of our group agreed to partially reimburse him if it proved to work.

Day 63:

We set out for the north. We purchased horses. Given our newfound relative wealth, this wasn't a problem. I bought two light warhorses, a white one named Alabaster and a black one named Onyx. For some reason some of the others find these names, or at least Alabaster, humorous. I fear I'll never fully understand the northerners.

Day 64:

Strange and troubling events! Late at night, a spirit appeared in the form of a young elf woman who seemed to have died by being hanged. She wept and moaned and for a time ignored us, until Oda and Hrevna spoke to her in Elvish. We discovered that she her body had been imprisoned in some magical way, and thereby her spirit could not rest until it was freed by the body being burned. She provided us with a, very rough, description of where it might be located, and mentioned it was under a Yew tree.

In the meantime, those on watch woke most of us up, but apparently not Fflam, who was left sleeping in the camp by himself. While we were attempting to speak with the spirit, a wolf, in a most unnatural manner, crept into our camp by itself and stood over Fflam, ready to tear out his throat. Fortunately (or not, as shall be seen) we noticed this and charged back to camp. Some of us fired bows and seemed largely to succeed in wounding Fflam (who at that point woke up, in what must have been a spectacularly unpleasant manner) while merely annoying the wolf. However, the sight of the rest of the party charging forward convinced it to flee, which it did far faster than we could follow.

While all of this was happening, Shelre disappeared! We waited throughout the night and the following day for her to return, but she did not. Curse her! It seems we couldn't trust her after all.

Day 68:

We arrived at a northern village matching the description of the spirit. Here we faced a pleasant reception right until we began asking about old graveyards and yew trees. There IS an old graveyard, apparently abandoned about 200 years ago, and perhaps from the time before burning became universal. The villagers consider the place cursed, and questions about it only made them hostile too us, particularly Oda, who like me has trouble understanding the lack of respect on the part of common people in these north-western lands.

After some investigation, we found that there was a Yew tree in the graveyard, and at its base, a stone plate covering the entrance to an underground mausoleum. There, we found bodies arranged lining the walls in a circle, bound with rune-covered strips of cloth, and many other signs of magical purpose in the room. The place as a whole practically crackled with magic, and clearly formed a circle of power. After some discussion, we agreed to refrain from disturbing it, as doing so might unleash who knows what horrible magic.

Day 69:

We resupplied and headed toward the mountains in search of the priest of Thor. Hrogar's magical compass seemed to be working well. I am becoming more comfortable wielding the light of Pelor. May he guide me in these dark times!

*A*