Alcander: Day 41

We have lost Ryan.

It was a great battle, and a good death. A great evil lay behind that door, we knew, and so we sought it out and destroyed it.

It was a savage battle. The beast was strong, perhaps stronger than anything else we have face.

Ryan gave his life that we might have victory.

Now we must decide what to do with him. There is talk of returning him to Point of Origin, to seek ressurection for him. I do not agree with this, though  I suppose his family must be allowed to make the final decision.

I hope they allow him to stay dead. He died a great and noble death in battle, much like the first death of Heracles. We are not allowed to speak of the secret knowledge, but we know.

Heracles died in glorious battle, first. But his wife would not allow him to stay dead, and so she had him resurrected. Resurrected to find slow, agonizing death from poison at the hands of his own wife.

He was torn from godhood, from a good death, for no better reason than a woman's wishes.

I can only hope that Ryan is allowed a more noble death than that.

I must return to watch. I have hopes that the laughing spirit will return. I have struck him many great blows. Perhaps this time I will strike the final one.

The Journal of Fflam, Entry 1

(In Dwarven)

Day 40.

I must admit it feels a bit strange to be writing here what could readily be spoken out loud.  I have never wasted the time in the past to make feeble parchment records of events that should be passed down in songs or carved in murals in the rock.  But recent events have caused my thoughts to shift.

The life of a paladin is more than just a life.  His actions have an effect beyond his own time.  I realize this now that Ryan has fallen.  He was as courageous as anyone could be, and our leader in battle.  If one such as he can fall to the evil in this place, than who's to say the rest of us won't follow?

We will press on, of course.  To turn around now is not our way.  Not the paladin way.  We must press on, to honor our fallen leader, comrade, friend.  To seek justice on the evil that took him.

I write this now to be sure that sacrifices are not forgotten.  We do not know what else may be lurking in this mine, but we will find out, one way or another.  We have our own strength, we have a renewed determination, and we have the gods on our side.

There is no doubt in my mind that the gods were on Ryan's side as well, and may they guide him on whatever path he now walks.  It weighs on my mind that  it's possible none of us may survive the depths of this mine.  In that case, I place my hope in this piece of parchment, that perhaps when someone overcomes the evil here, that they will at least know of our time here.

Ryan: Day 39 continued

Day 39 continued:

Shift 1:
Well we are stopping for the night. So far our progress into the mine has been slow. We came across some spirits. To say these spirits were dangerous is an understatement. When one attacked me it felt as if my strength was drained from me. All of a sudden I felt like I was not able to do simple tasks, which I had grown accustom to doing. I was not even able to heal. Good news was once the spirits were destroyed I felt my strength return. We have killed several of these spirits; hopefully that was the last of them.

We also came across some more undead. We need to make sure we stop what ever is creating these creatures or else we will just have keep returning to these mines.

Well anyway my shift is up I will write some more on my second shift. I figured it only makes sense for me to take two shifts. It will allow us to keep 3 people on guard for each shift and prevent any turmoil between members.

Shift 2:
Wow! There are a lot of weird things going on here. I keep hearing voices and there lights flickering in the distance. Thankfully nothing seems to be coming. So I think I will let my comrades sleep. I have a feeling we are going to come across some very dangerous creatures here.

I will say this. I will not allow anyone of my team to come to harm. As the leader I need to make all efforts to ensure everyone’s safety. Well anyways, looks like people are waking up. I hope we can make better progress today.

Journal of Arcadius - Day 41

We have had many battles. This place is crawling with the minions of death. May I be a vessel of the light of Lord Pelor in this place of darkness. I have been gifted with new powers, much like the prayers of a Cleric, yet not the same - for I do not receive them through prayer and preparation, but rather seem to call on them as need demands. I simply... know... how to do so. Pelor guides me. Always the light is in my mind. May I serve well.

***

Alas! Today Ryan died bravely against a black-clawed skeletal thing of horror. Too brief was his time with us. He led well. There is talk of returning to point of origin and asking to have him returned to life to rejoin us. I don't know if that is what he would have wanted to do, but it is not for me to speculate. Perhaps guidance will come on this matter. I fear we have also released one of the powers that rules this foul place - a shade trapped in a magic circle. Now due to our fighting, the circle is disrupted and it is free. It fled, returned to attack us, and then fled again. The vile and cowardly thing can float through walls. May we be able to stop it before it does more harm!

***

There is more to all of this than meets the eye. I fear large forces are in motion, though I do not know what.

*A*

Excerpts from the Journal of Hrogar

(The following is written after the first day of fighting in the mine, before resting for that first night)

We have barely entered into the mine, and already we are exhausted. We fight foes that are immune to our weapons. I find there is precious little I can do against some of these enemies, and it is infuriating. The zombies at least I can harm, but the shades and ghosts, all I can do is run around and try to distract them while my allies attack! Is there nothing more I can do?

I worry how long we can continue if the whole mine is equally as dense with enemies. Hopefully we’ll make it through the night at least, but I fear whether we’ll survive this quest. Then again, if it was easy, anyone could do this.

Having said that, a miraculous thing has happened: Arcadius, it seems has been used as a vessel by his god! It seems to have been a life changing experience for him, as I can imagine it would be. It seems that his god desires that he be more compassionate and forgiving, and has reconsidered his position on me. I’m sure we will speak of this at a later time, when we can.

But for now, we must rest, and prepare for tomorrow, while we can.

Excerpts from the Journal of Hrogar

(The following is written on the way back to the mine)

We will soon be going back to the mine, to route out the evil from its depths. Apparently it is part of the greater evil that was revealed in the dream I wrote of earlier that apparently the entire group had.

Removing the evil from the mine will aid in my atonement, although some of my allies would be surprised to learn exactly what I am atoning for. I have told Marion the truth, but I suspect that both Alcander and Arcadius would be aghast to learn the truth. They believe that my atonement is for my failure to attack with them, but had I done so, the gods would be far angrier with me, for to have done so would have been to betray everything I have been taught and believe in. No, my atonement is for my lack of action in the ways that would have been acceptable for me. Had I thought of trying to keep the fire going around the tree earlier, or had I followed them to act as healer, the gods would have no problem with me. It is for this failure, and this failure alone, that I must atone for.

It is a failure I have known to be a potential weakness for some time, and I have only myself to blame for not ridding myself of this problem of inaction. I take too much time to think, time that I can not afford to lose. I hope that while in the mines, I can overcome this flaw.

I also worry that another such situation will occur similar to that with the Ranger. If it does, I will have to act in a way similar on the surface to the way I did before, much to the chagrin, I’m sure, of my allies. While Arcadius has already written me off and will have nothing to do with me, and Alcander seems not far behind, my primary worry is how the others will see such an action.

Still, I must be true to who I am. If such a situation occurs, I will do what I must, even if it means I will no longer travel with the group I started out with.

My plan is to slowly explain the full situation to the others, one at a time. First I will speak to Ryan, who has been chosen as leader for the group. I will explain to him exactly what I am and am not willing to do, and see how he reacts. Eventually, I will do the same with everyone (with the possible exception of Arcadius and Alcander, as the former seems unlikely to care, and the latter unlikely to understand).

But for now, I focus back on the mine. There is much evil there to defeat, and I can only hope we are up to the challenge.

Alcander: Day 40

The evil in this mine is great indeed. After all the evil we purged, even more has been spawned by whatever horror lurks in the depths, beneath the seals which must not have been strong enough.

We are resting within the mine, not wanting to go back for fear that it will be full of monsters once again when we return. But Marion needs the rest, and as she is a weak sort, we must do what we can for her. She has saved our lives on several occasions, so I suppose we must make certain allowances for the weakness of her spirit.

I can only hope that the shadows do not attack us again tonight. I do not know if we would be victorious, this time. We faced them earlier, and only survived because Arcadius's god chose to bestow great power upon him. I can only wonder what such a contact with one's god might feel like. Heracles is not known to speak to his followers so directly. He prefers to let us make our own way, that we might grow stronger for the struggle and become his equal in death. Heracles wants no followers. He wants equals.

Yet I can't help but wonder what the feeling must be like, to be filled with the power of a god. The god told him to forgive Hrogar, too, in spite of his casting out.

For my part, I must trust in Heracles through smaller signs. It seems that the thing that infests this place is scared of us. It spends it's time on children's parlour tricks, trying to scare us off rather that face us in battle. I believe that this is Heracles's sign: the monster is afraid of us, and we shall be victorious.

Whatever the cost, we will succeed.