Journal of Arcadius

Praise and glory to Lord Pelor!

It has been but a few days since I slew the Shadow Dragon necromancer, and rid the worlds of its evil. Now, I have been called forth by Pelor and Herakles to rejoin and aid my old companions!

I received a vision the Herakles, the god himself, wished to speak with me. Of course I accepted at once, and as soon as I had gathered my gear, I was transported across the planes to a place where in the ruins of an ancient city an avatar of Herakles speaking with, of all people, Walter-Tupper and Hrogar! If any, I thought, could use the instruction of Herakles, it would be they! I was humbled, honored beyond all mortal expectation that Herakles introduced me as a Paladin who had stayed true to the cause of courage and right!

I know not what to say or think, to be honored by a god in person.

Nonetheless, I quickly understood why I had been summoned.

Hrogar, it seems, has been reformed. This is good. Before, he proved a disgrace to the very name of Paladin. Now, he worships a northern god associated with cunning and strategy in battle. This is well fitted for him, I deem. He seemed a changed man, and showed the very steel he had so gravely lacked before.

Walter-Tupper, on the other hand...

By the gods, why does this miserable cowardly wretch continue on with us, and yet resist the glorious destiny to which he is being called? If he prefers hiding in corners to doing the will of worthy and righteous gods, why is he here? Herakles, the god Herakles himself, stood before us, his great immortal lion standing nearby, and implored this pitiable excuse for a man to step forth and become what he could, by accepting destiny, become... and what did he, Walter-Tupper have to say in reply? He insulted the god to his face! Herakles however, is in his own way as forgiving as Lord Pelor, and merely laughed.

Having, no doubt, other concerns, Herakles then left and instructed us to return through a portal whence the other two had come. His lion returned THROUGH that portal, and emerged on the other side as, for now at least, a magical statue of a lion. We went through the portal and I quickly discovered my companions had been, yet again, under water. Thankfully, Herakles gifted me with power to breath underwater for a time. The others had magic already in place.

On the other side, to my great joy, I saw Sztuczka! What a great and brave spirit is housed in that small frame! She brings warmth to my heart! I am glad to see her returned. Of the others, there were only Walter-Tupper and Hrogar that I knew. It seems Fflam died as he had lived, in a storm of fire. May he find peace in the afterlife. Ragnarr and Chris apparently went to the city of Sigil, yes THE Sigil, to protect some being of immense power they encountered in the form of a young and naive girl. The power and destiny of the Staff of Ehlona are apparently in some way bound up with this girl. I suspect we shall encounter them again. Jacob and Aurelia have left, as it seems had others that came and went while I was gone.

Our party has been augmented by Dantroe, a dwarf, and Azan, a noble warrior of Pelor. Together, the lot explained our mission. We were exploring an undersea complex, which appears to be a sunken temple or place of power of deities opposed to the undersea city. It seemed we were to gather kelp from a secret chamber in the lower parts of the temple. The enemy city itself is either controlling or controlled by that most ancient and evil race, the Aboleth.

Things became difficult.

At the chamber of Odin, Dantroe offered to sacrifice himself, as Odin had once done, in order to activate whatever gate or power was in the place. We had hoped it would be symbolic, but indeed he was hanged and died, for a time.

Then, a wizard named Steinbjorn appeared, insisting that we drop everything and fight an Aboleth that was in this very area, and had captured his wife. After some discussion he realized it could not be done at that precise moment. When he heard the details of what Dantroe had done, he scanned the magic of room and and decided to JOIN Dantroe.

Thus, there we were with two corpses hanging from a tree, and the kelp not yet harvested.

Azan and I went to the chamber of Lord Pelor, and there explored in, praying as we went. My prayers for guidance were indeed answered, and Lord Pelor protected us as we went forth, past the crystal shark that guarded the way down to the lower chamber. There, was a grating that seemed likely to be magical and locked. Rather than help us, Walter-Tupper had insisted he stay behind to guard, of all things, the floating corpses of the men who had sacrificed themselves. He argued at length with me against coming to help, do his job, and check for traps. Thankfully, Lord Pelor gave me patience and I did not have to use force.

After much wasted time, Walter-Tupper swam back with me, where he checked for and found a magical trap involving electricity. I called forth the power of Lord Pelor and he granted my companions resistance to electricity. Then Walter-Tupper set to try to disarm the trap. He failed. We were shocked. Thankfully, the shock was not so great that any of us died. He, Walter-Tupper then unlocked the lock and down we went. To my annoyance, Walter-Tupper then wanted to immediately head back to "guard" the dead bodies, leaving us to our fate should be encounter any other traps. Sztuczka and I had to nigh-order him to remain.

May the gods turn this worm, Walter-Tupper, into a man!

We cut a section of kelp under the watchful eye of crystal barracudas. There were symbols of many gods on the walls. Praise be to all who fought and are fighting this evil! We quickly left.

Shortly upon returning, our companions returned to life, saying they had been to a place called the Iron Forest under the control of the northern goddess Hel. Walter-Tupper's steadfast defense against ravaging minnows appeared to have paid off, and they were little worse for wear.

Then, another problem emerged.

After some pointed questions by myself and Steinbjorn, it emerged that those who had dispatched the companions here to this place (1) had crystal amulets (2) detected as evil, and (3) had an Aboleth on hand.

It appears my companions were deceived.

However we still had the kelp, which indeed radiated great power, by the will of Lord Pelor. Therefore, it would be a matter of what to do WITH it, and what to do next as a group. We have to deal with these masters of evil deception, and soon.

Pelor give us guidance!

*A*