Excerpts From Xeos’s Journal

By Kevin Sung

Werewolves, scrolls oh my

one assist

zero kills

Noguard was getting a little old. All my leads were cold and I had not found anything of merit. Somehow though I could feel the evil in the city. It was everywhere yet I could not find the root of it. My hunches were usually right. Evil festers in the dark nooks of cities where lost souls walked the streets. As I wandered the city, I was contacted by a dwarf named Desserin. He claimed that his mistress, Evelyn had some work that required my unusual skills. As usual he gave the usual talk about his master not taking kindly to betrayal and I would rue the day if I chose to betray his mistress.

The mission details were quite simple. A broker in information, an innkeeper, double crossed her is about to sell this piece of information to another interested party. Apparently the scroll contained valuable information on some castle. I was not interested in it much but it was work and I might find more information on my brothers and other practioners of the foul necromatic arts. I was to work with a party to find the scroll and who the second buyer was. If possible we were to capture the innkeeper for Evelyn. I decided to accept. I heard rumors of this group. Supposedly they had taken out a great necromancer working in Noguard.

In an instant, I was teleported into a clearing. I saw the party and sized them up. A rag tag bunch. The leader was a female elf named Riatha. There was an elven ranger named Emjod who supposedly funded this group or so I was told. A minotaur named Kaylo. A human fighter named Etrigan and a punk elf name Drake, a thief based on what I perceived as shifty eyes underneath a hood.

Riatha quickly gave the plan. We were to pose as possible sellers to the innkeeper but stay in a different inn and gather information. Hopefully they plan on stealing the scroll and finding the identity of the other buyer. Simple enough. We had settled in to our lodgings and decided to checkout the innkeeper. Riatha decided to talk to the stock boy, Landen in the back of the inn to see what was about. There apparently was three nobles and three merchants staying in the inn all presumably with business. Not very interesting to me so I just kept quiet. I had decided to go with the rest of the fighters to the bar where of course the hulky minotaur Kaylo caused a commotion. Some of the party talked while others just looked about. Of note the fighter Etrigan was of some interest to me. I could not put my finger on it but I did not like him. Maybe I just felt he was hiding more than the usual person. A brooding fighter sitting in the corner was pretty typical or perhaps I did not like it because I saw a mirage of myself in some ways as I sat quietly looking about. Or maybe I was a bit jealous that I was not the only muscle in the party. After all, Kaylo clearly was not one of higher intelligence if he would walk right into the inn and draw attention to the party without waiting outside or somehow magically transforming himself into something more passable. I might be too hard on the minotaur though. I never liked drawing attention to myself. It only makes my work that much harder if my prey knows I am coming.

After a little dinner, we met with a representative of the innkeeper in a smoke filled room. I did not eat. It was best to keep on guard on an empty stomach and plus I did not trust the innkeeper at all. After all anyone with a track record of double cross is not to be trusted nor is his establishment. I was on my guard but I did not expect much as Riatha conversed. There was some talk about trying to find an appropriate item to get the scroll. I did not pay much attention. It was none of my business. I am just extra muscle of this mission.

Afterwards, Kaylo the minotaur claimed to have a lead and needed another fighter looking type to help out. Some sort of local gladiatorial fight matches to make some money which might lead to somei nformation. I was skeptical considering the bar incident so I did not volunteer. Unfortunately Etrigan was pretty tired and the party pressed that I should go with the Kaylo. I refused. After all, I just met this party and I was not about to go alone with Kaylo. They could be trying to double cross Evelyn and I for one was not going to get stuck with wrath of a scorned woman. Plus this lead the minotaur came up with would probably not be of value though I have always favored the more direct approach.

Later that night the minotaur and Etrigan came back battered bruised. I figured the worst. They were ambushed. Apparently the former gladiator was trying to knock them off and sell them as gladiators. They managed to fight off him and his accomplice. I figured as much. Still no harm no foul.

The next day, we met with the representative. After some haggling that I did not really care about, they were unable to come up with the scroll though they were able to trade a trinket. Some sort of wolf amulet this party picked up. They got some valuable information of finding more treasure.

Afterwards the party decided to go with the more direct approach. Finally some action! I was beginning to wonder if this party really did kill the necromancer with all this stalling and talking. The elven thief Drake was able to do some reconnaissance so we headed straight for some secret door. Unfortunately the intel was faulty, as soon as we stepped into the door, a magical alarm went off. I never did like sneaky around anyways. We quickly started opening doors trying to find the innkeeper. All of a sudden we were attacked by two guard wolves. We fought our ways through then only to discover they were illusions. We did a quick check only to find the minotaur missing! There was one more door to go. We headed in. Sitting at the table with the minotaur cowering in the corner was some strange new undead!

I sized it up. It was clearly nothing I had seen before. It would provide an interesting addition to my journals and the brotherhoods archive. The undead had this thin parched stretched skin over its skeletal body with these red charcoal eyes. He called himself an Atleti. I immediately sought to banish the undead but it failed! I was surprised. The undead claimed he was impervious to turning. I thought it was just idle talk but I made a mental note just in case it was true. I tried to absorb all the details of the undead as it tried to parlay with us. I did not give it a chance, there was one way to handle his kind and that was banishment back to where it cam from.

I was a little surprised that the party followed by lead, but grateful. Etrigan, Emjod and I hacked away at it while the rest pelted spells and other range attacks. I did my best to hack away at it though it was clearly tougher than anything I had fought before. As I hacked away, I made sure to watch my comrads and heal them up if they looked beat up. During the battle, it grabbed me to prevent me from attacking and laughed maniacally. I laughed back. I still had one more trick left. I might die, but I planned on taking him with me. He threw me to the ground but I managed to stay up. Em,jod delivered the killing blow while Riatha skewered it with arrows. I was envious of Emjod. The undead was in disbelief as he disintegrated into dust and swore we did not see the last of him.

After the dust had settled, the innkeeper showed up. The same person who we had been talking to. Apparently he heard the alarm and decided to let us fight it out. He was going to let us go with the scroll if we promised to leave quietly. I was not sure what to expect but in an instant, Riatha gave him his answer with a bow shot! The rest of us jumped in and attacked. We pounded away at the innkeeper but he suddenly changed into this were-being. I would say werewolf but lycanthropy was never my specialty. We used the same strategy in handling the Atleti. Unfortunately, our spellcasters were spent and the rest of us were beat up from our last encounter and the innkeeper was quicker than he looked. It did not help that the innkeeper/werewolf was also a cleric and able to heal himself up. He delivered a killing blow to Etrigan as the rest of us retreated. Most of us were barely standing and Riatha seeing that we could not take down the innkeeper did the wise thing.

She parlayed with him and got the scroll and left. Clearly we had made another enemy but the party figured two out of three mission objectives was not too bad. Better than average. Before we left I saw Kaylo grab some dust from what left of the Atleti. When we got back, Evelyn was happy with the scroll and the fact that we killed the other interested party's agent. An intertesting party. They definitely seem to have a knack for finding the trouble I am looking for. I was just sad that I did not make a good showing. Pathetic for a person of my merit. At least I was able to get a glimpse of this new undead. Something to think about. Where did it come from? Who was its master? Maybe the biggest necromancer of all, Veckna? Someone else? A new lead to follow though I was not sure where it would take me. Interestingly Drake has been cozying up to me. I suspect he had some dealing that pissed off some evil entity. Why else cozy up with an undead hunter? Interesting.

Castle in the Sky

0 kills

0 assists

I thought for sure this adventure would lead me to more foul undead but it turned out there was just one. And oh it was the motherload. The mission was simple, we basically had to loot the castle but we needed to find some Book called the Book of Winter. Evelyn gave us a way to teleport into the desert and another scroll to get us back. Once we picked up supplies and healed up, we were ready.

We quickly materialized in the desert. It was hot nasty and it felt like we were in the pits of hell. Sand blew everywhere obscuring the view. Most of us took off our armor because it was going to get cumbersome. Kaylo sent his familiar to check out the desert. They spotted the castle we were heading for and something dark and ominous heading for us. We decided to quickly move ahead. After a day or so, Kaylo's familiar so that the ominous feeling was getting closer. We took quick stock of where we were. We saw some rocky outcroppings and head for it. We could see in the distance some massive worm like creature. It seemed very familiar to me. I was not sure where I had seen it before but it occurred to me, it must have been something undead. Then it came to me. The monastery being attacked by the elemental prince of fire and all the dead priests of the monastery becoming this undead monstrosity. It wanders the desert searching for victims that become part of the bone worm. You supposedly could see the victim's faces and priest's trying to pray. An abomination that should be stopped at all costs from corrupting this world.

I gave the details to the party who quickly decided they wanted to keep moving. I followed their lead. We kept hopping from outcropping to outcropping. The worm was getting closer. Eventually they decided we would have to deal with it. We decided on a plan. The party had an amulet that would sent its owner to the elemental plane of fire. A fitting place for it. I was going to drop it on the beast hoping to send it back to the elemental plane of fire. If it did not work, I knew what I was going to do. Draw it of from the party and hoped I would come up with a way to defeat it though in the end I knew it might come down to suiciding myself to save the party. Riatha decided to make some noise with her staff to attract the foul beast. We all waited in anticipation.

At first glance the beast was huge, hot air gushed from it as it come out. I was shaken. It was odd for me. Riatha saw that I had frozen up and grabbed the necklace from me. I managed to make an attempt to turn the beast back to where it came from but to no effect! Riatha though managed to clap the necklace on the beast and send it back when it came.

We continued on but we noticed that the castle we were heading to disappeared! We had hoped it was temporary and decided to continue on. Eventually it re-appeared but in the distance we saw two bodies plummeting to the ground. Several of the party members scouted out ahead.

When they got back, they informed us of two dead bodies, which they had looted. One looked like a sorcerer of sorts and another was some sort of warrior thief. Both had silver blood and were nothing they had seen before. Most of the loot they had gathered was weapons, a fine looking dagger and some strange looking helmet. Interesting. They had noticed some weird tattoo on the arm of one of them and one of them had a strange tattoo on his chest. In an experiment of sorts, Emjod drew the symbol with the silver liquid found on one of the bodies on Kaylo. It seemed to glow and then the tattoo disappeared. Interesting. They also indicated that there was some sort of magical barrier that stopped magic but once we passed through it, we found we could cast magic again.

We continued on and saw at the base of the castle, the intense heat from something had made the sand below into glass. All around the castle were these ripples in the sand. Almost as if something it the ground causing a shockwave across the desert. After some scouting around, we used the fly potions from Evelyn to get up to the castle. Our reconnaissance indicated some magical ballista roaming the ramparts. Likely it was the cause of the fall of the two creatures. We decided on entering in the garden area hoping for the easiest entry without alerting the automatons of our intrusion. We did some searching but did not find much. Eventually though someone found a secret doorway.

So far so good. We had avoided detection but from Emjod did find other tracks of two different parties. Hopefully if they stayed out of our way, we would stay out of theirs. Unfortunately we were not quite as sneaky as we hoped. A half human half spider was lurking about. We managed to sneak up on it but it put up a good fight and chase before we put it down. I was worried we would draw more attention with all the racket we made but nothing happened as we re-grouped.

As we wandered about in the lower levels we found an interesting room. At first it looked like some sort of vault but when we opened it, an intense light shown through. Etrigan immediately did not like the light. He did not want to enter the room. We ventured in to investigate. In it were four large glowing balls. At the end was a portculis and what appeared to be a very nasty drop. We searched several of the room but then we noticed Riatha acting kind of odd. She just would not leave the room. We managed top convince her to checkout one of the rooms and she appeared to be normal again. The adjoining rooms were mostly living quarters and names inscribed. Almost like a barracks of sorts. We finally came to the last room and found some insane priest. We tried to talk to him but it was clear he was completely gone. It was odd though he had burns on his body. Almost like he had been in the sun too long.

One of the elves found a switch at the far end. We decided to throw it hoping something interesting would happen. I had stayed with Riatha in a separate room to keep her away from the light. I suspected it had something to do with her odd behavior. The instant we pulled the lever, the portculis opened and a ball went down the chute! Unfortunately the vaccum that sucked the ball out also took poor Drake along who had volunteered to pull it. I felt bad but there was nothing we could do for him. The emptiness where the ball went looked deep and we did not have enough rope to swing down and take a look.

Afterwards as we decided to head out, we found the doors closed. Odd, they were not closed before. Somehow we managed to open it. Etrigan was wandering about sleeping in one of the sleeping cells. As we searched around we found an altar with an angel statue. Clearly this place at one point was used by the forces of good. We decided to head up the stairs.

The next room looked like a dining room where a massive battle occurred a long time ago. All sorts of old decrepit things about the room without out a hint of life. Almost like a tomb in my mind. I really did not care much. I wanted to keep moving. So far I had not seen a hint of undead since the bone worm and I was getting bored.

Our rangers scouted out ahead and said he saw four armored figures in what appeared to be the main entrance way. We did not want any trouble so we snuck by. We I should say almost all of us. Etrigan plodded by without a care in the world. I got a little annoyed. It was not that I was afraid to die because I was ready for that, but to die because of some else's carelessness was not something I would tolerate. Surprisingly nothing happened. At least immediately. As soon as we head up the stairs, we were attacked by another man-spider. Great. We defeated it but the noise from the fight would likely attract trouble. The party continued upward and heard some voices in one of the upper levels. We decided to scout around before opening the door.

The upper levels had some statues. One of the first and one of the second. Apparently the leaders of the runelords. There were only a few rooms on the upper level. We scouted around and did not see much. The only level left was the room we heard voices from.

In one of the windows looking out, we saw some sort of ship towing the castle! We could make out some dragons circle the citadel. What was weirder was that we were not in the desert. We must have been teleported into another plane. Not a good sign. We figured that maybe the contraption below enabled someone to teleport the castle here. We decided to try sending another ball down. Etrigan and Emjod decided to head down while we waited.

We waited a long time. I am not sure what was taking them so long. Emjod came up and said he had pulled the lever but nothing happened. Etrigan was supposed to come up soon. We waited for him. I did not want to leave anyone behind. It seemed to be taking him a while. We sent Emjod back down to see what was taking Etrigan so long.

All of a sudden we were attacked by a mind flayer! Somehow it managed to hold Kaylo and Riatha, and that left only me. I did my best to fend off the mind flayer. At first I slashed at it hoping to stall for time. The mind flayer though decided to stick its tentacles on me. At first I decided to slash at the mind flayer hoping to fend him off but when the severity of my situation became apparent and I was fighting for my life, I started ripping those foul things off of me. Eventually aid came quickly. Someone started slashing the mind flayer from behind. With both of us slashing away, the mind flayer ran down the stairs hoping to escape.

That was when everything became FUBAR. The voices from the room opened the door! I immediately slashed at them thinking they were working with the mind flayer. They jumped back and said something to the effect that I was some monk and to fight with no weapons. I thought it odd but I remembered something which might have confused them thinking I was a monk. I delayed. I might be cocky but I saw six of them in the room and with just me beat up, I needed help. I waited and stalled hoping that the rest of my party will re-group.

The monks attacked and I fought back. These were highly skilled warriors as we jumped about the room attacking and counter attacking. There four comrades just watched. Riatha quickly came to my aid and started attacking the nearest monk. I concentrated on taking as many of them down. As the battled continued, another party came running in. These weilded a long sword and short sword and looked different from the first six. Clearly all warriors. They attacked us and the other party we were fighting! What a mess.

The battle raged but eventually we killed everyone save on who claimed to be something called a githzerai. He filled in on some details that the warriors that came in later in the battler were called the githyanki who they have had an eternal conflict with out in the Astral plane. The githyanki had hoped to steal the castle and use it against the githzerai. He mentioned that several teams had been sent in to release someone. I am not sure what or who.

During the conversation I saw what looked like a demonic Etrigan. Yikes! I would have struck it down Emjod did not assure me it was ok. It wasn't to me. Foul demons walk this earth in various guises and this could be one. Still father had warned me about being too hasty. Something about never judging a book by its cover. One of those lessons I have yet to learn. I always like attacking first and asking questions later when it comes to demons and undead. Still this could be something interesting. I might be able to use this to my advantage.

We went down in the bottom of the castle hoping to sort this out. We had explored most of the castle but did not find any treasure trove yet. The party decided to try to pry more information out from the crazed rune mage and maybe figure out where the real treasure was. They only managed to get a little before Kaylo decided to try to learn him back in the light. It was very cruel of Kaylo to kill him in such a way.

We had found some rune keys in several rooms and decided to try that. Kaylo said that one key in the light room and one in the upper tower where we saw the statues would activate some portal. We decided to try it out. Unfortunately once we brought out the rune keys, the githzerai that surrendered to us attacked! It was more of an inconvenience as we dispatched him but we had hoped to find something more.

Betrayed by one of our own! Kaylo was gone once we activated the key. I am not sure I trust him. First the cruel way he disposed of the rune mage and now this. I would have to clearly watch him. Though not nearly as much as Etrigan. Of course my interest with Etrigan was clearly more lethal but maybe not. I decided I will spend time studying him. If he was a demon and I had to kill him, I might find a weakness. Plus in the books we have, very little is discussed about encounters with demons. Either way it will provide some insight.

While we were looking for Kaylo, we found Drake! Interestingly he went down the chute and found the main battery that was powering the castle. He saved himself with a featherfall the cushion the drop. Otherwise he would have been dead. Smart thinking. We headed up to the other rune key room. All of a sudden, we were attacked by another mind flayer! It ambushed Emjod but the rest of us were nearby to give support and finish off the foul beast. These things were coming out of the wood work. We but it down but I did not like the noise we were making. Sooner or later trouble was going to find us. Not that I did not mind trouble, but I prefer the undead or demonic kind. At least I knew what to expect for the most part not some mind sucking beasts or astral plane beings.

There was one room left to check. It was a long ladder up to one of the towers. We nearly lost Emjod as he lost his slipping and fell but Drake saved him. At least the party protects one of their own. I think. At the top, we found what appeared to be some control room. A rune key was required and Riatha sat in the seat. She saw maps of the entire castle and the rooms we missed. We decided to make the castle go in reverse and try to stall the githyanki's towing project to their city. The instant we did that, we ran for the last part of the castle we had not been too.

The first was clearly a treasure room. All sorts of weapons. The magic users looked for magic items and everyone grabbed stuff. I did not feel comfortable looting so I let them to it. At least they were efficient. We ran down the remaining corridors and ran into a succubus! She apparently had an interest in the egg in the center of the room. I was about to charge her hoping the rest would follow my lead when things got a little hazy. In retrospect, I should have killed the wench immediately. How in the world did I kiss it? What was more disturbing was I actually enjoyed it. Of course the party did nothing, they would do anything for treasure and the like. I don't necessarily blame them. When you are looking for undead like I do, you expect to be around treacherous company.

The next thing I knew, I was in a room watching a battle. Kaylo was talking to someone in the chair and we could not get out of the room. The book of Winter, one of Evelyn's items was in the center but it was stuck to one page and we could not remove it from the pedestal. The battle outside was between two twin rune mages who destroyed the city or maybe the world. I did not care much on the details. I was still brooding on my own problem. How could I? I need to meditate on the subject but I could not cleanse my mind of the image of the succubus.

We tried to go through a door but all of a sudden I found myself near a pool. It was weird but I knew that every party member faced a similar dilemma. Who ever was first would live and the other would die for each pairing. I was not about to kill an innocent person. There was not guarantee that it would say kill Etrigan or maybe Kaylo. I was not about to pass judgement on anyone just yet. So I waited and meditated. I did not mind dying. I just wished I got Vekna before I left this world. In a way I just assumed everyone else would put his or her fist in. At least I would let someone live in this cruel game.

The next instant, we found ourselves on a rock with the rest of the party. All except Etrigan. He was further behind. It was clear he ad put his fist in and failed the test. A voice boomed out about the first person pulling the card would be released. Hoping across all these rocks in a spiral pattern was a large rock containing a deck of cards. We all figured that it meant we would be free. We worked as a team and waited until everyone had reached the deck. We could not all pull the card. The party nominated me to pull the card. I did not want to. Why? Father told me that I had to make my own destiny. Do not let the higher powers dictate your life. It might be tough and miserable but it was our choice. I wanted to figure out my own problems on my own terms. I guess I don't like asking for help too much. Being on my own for a while, it has been tougher but I was not about to let the morbid atmosphere around our world dictate my life. Regardless of this test, I knew I had a choice and I chose not to pull the card.

Everyone then nominated Etrigan thinking he was cursed. I did not think so. I never heard of a good demon. I was about to object but then I thought, why not? If he becomes normal and non-demonic, then he is free of his purgatory. If he truly is a demon, his wish would be something foul. Once I knew his wish came true and whether it was good or bad I would decide what to do with him. Though if his wish was something evil, I would finish him off or die trying. There would be not hesitation and no mercy. There was a risk that I would not be able to undo what evil he wished, but based on Etrigan, he usually thinks small. I was willing to take this chance. For Etrigan's sake, I hope he chose wisely. Otherwise he might be visiting his brethren in the pits of hell. Normally I don't come up with such a plan but after the succubus, I was in a more vindictive mood. I wanted to lash out at anyone or anything. Etrigan is an easy target. I also expect his wish would be something more narrow in scope. Any damage I will have to undo regardless of the cost.

After Etrigan pulled the card, we were sent to a forest. An elf riding a wolf greeted us. A city was not far away put Etrigan would not be allowed to go. Strange. Etrigan must be a demon. The forest was tranquil and when I entered the city it was not something evil would create. It made me think Etrigan was more a demon then cursed. That question was answered. He was a demon. Now the question was, whether he was redeemable. Only his actions past and present will tell me that. The elves treated us well and we rested and were well fed. They filled in only some details. The world was changing and the usual turning point for the world talk.

At the end each one of us was allowed to ask one question. I knew what my question was, "Where can I find the rest of my brothers?" Unfortunately I did not like the answer. They were scattered to the four winds. Apparently a former brother, Lorn, and his followers destroyed the monastery I had been at. The elves also told me he was seeking the aid of a ancient green wurm in the Forest of Spiders named Llyweggon. His goal was the book of winter and the pages indicating how Lorn could descend into lichdom. That was not going to happen. Though now I begin to wonder. Is Evelyn, Llyweggon? An agent or working for him? Either way it means I can't trust her. She does not have a propensity for green and she does not look too old for an ancient green wurm. Either way I need to make my way back to the castle. I can not let Lorn have the Book of Winter. The elves warned me that Lorn has grown in power and not to confront him right away. It gave me more to think about.

The elves gave me a room to sleep and meditate. I meditated on what I had learned. The clarity and focus I had been lacking was coming back. I was still disturbed about my encounter with the succubus. I felt like I would need to do some great deeds to erase the horror of the deed. The scary part of it was some part of me enjoyed it. Before I left the room, I had a block of wood that carved the inscription "For those that have come before and those that will come, Hold the line." Something I felt deep down.

After a little rest my party members decided to head back. We were teleported right where we met the succubus. The party peered out and saw githyanki everywhere with some riding dragons. Looks like we were going to need a plan. The party though wanted to thoroughly loot the room. Not that there was much. I did not want to stay her too long but I decided to let them loot and figure things out. Eventually in the eleventh hour, the saw some magical glass bits. Unsure what to do and after exhausting many possible ways of taking it, they broke it. Riatha said something inscription she saw and all of a sudden the bits of magic came together and formed some scrolls! Interesting but there was no time. We had to get out of here with all the noise they made.

We quietly went to the rune room. It was guarded by six githyanki warriors. With a well planned sneak attack, we took down five of them. One of them managed to get away by teleporting. Curses. We had not though about it. It meant we had less time to get the rune keys correctly. After some trial and error we found the right combination of rune keys. Unfortunately we had to leave them behind. Drat! I did not want them to follow us but we had no choice. We quickly made it to the desert. With the teleport scroll we made it back to DragonFall and eventually back to Noguard.

I spent some time meditating the foul deed I had committed. I knew that I needed to really prove myself if I was to remove this uneasiness. Now I had another goal. An enemy from the past named Lorn. I was told he has grown powerful. I would have to be careful. I too needed more training but where and how?

The Desert Temple of the Undead

Zero kills

Zero assists

After some discussion with the party, they wanted to check out some desert temple. Apparently there was treasure and two artifacts, the hand and eye of Vekna. These were very powerful artifacts from a foul necromancer. I was not about to let it fall in the wrong hands. I would destroy it before the party could do anything with it. Lest Lorn or someone else get there hands on it. I would also have to be less reckless. There was no sense on dying prematurely. At the very least the elimination of Lorn will bring some peace to my fallen brothers. I needed a plan……..

The party did some negotiating with Evelyn. She wanted us around for her little political upheaval in Noguard. I was definitely not participating in that. Evelyn rubbed me the wrong way. I could not put my finger on it. I was going to watch her as I assume she is watching me. I might be many things, but I can sniff out evil. Either way the party traded some weird helmet that apparently had a baby illithid(Mind flayer) for a teleport scroll. One of the party members handed me a trident to use. I thought it might come in handy so I grabbed it. Ever since then, I have been attached to it. It felt like a good weapon to use. As if I was meant for it but I never believe in that destiny crap. I made it this far on my own and I was not going to be anyone's puppet. Which reminded me to keep an eye one Evelyn. She was trouble.

Our journey into the desert was hot nasty, windy and all together unpleasant. The heat was unbearable. We had to be careful not to pass out. Everyone kept an eye on each other. During one of our long treks. We were attacked! Some weird sand creatures. I immediately used my trident. I kept attacking but I could not hit a thing. Maybe I am going soft. It was odd but maybe I just needed to practice more with the trident. Etrigan pulled out this massive sword. It had skulls and gave me an eerie feeling. A gift from Evelyn. I don't have to guess that she was clearly evil and someone to reckon with. The party quickly dispatched them but without my help. I could not hit anything. Maybe these were protected against me? No matter I would over come this obstacle. Interestingly Drake and Kaylo were the targets of these undead denizens. I am not sure why. Usually in battle, you go for the strongest and most dangerous ones. In our party, it would have to be Etrigan, Emjod, Riatha and then the magic users Drake and Kaylo. Maybe they had some piece of undead item that the undead master wanted? I am not sure but I am going to have to keep a close eye on them.

We slept during the night and one of our night watches picked up five meerfits patrolling the area. They did not see us thanks to Kaylo's illusionary sanctuary we were staying in. At this point we decided to travel at night when it was cooler and sleep during the day. It would allow us to keep on our guard with most of our armor on. We had to be careful. The less attention the better.

Our next trek, we were again attacked by some skeletal sand golem. We could see it speeding towards us in the distance. We prepared ourselves for the attack. Riatha pelted it with arrows. Etrigan Emjod and I attacked it once it got close enough. It was weird, it was not concerned about us and attacked Kaylo. We kept hacking away at it. It managed to kill Kaylo before we took it down and nearly took out Drake.

There was not much left of him. All of a sudden his body started regenerating! Some foul green liquid was everywhere. I decided to turn this unholy act back from whence it came. It did not work. I was not having much luck turning undead of late. It must be some greater foul magic that my meager skills are unable to draw forth the power to turn back. I would have to do this the old fashion way. I was about to slash away when my comrades stopped me. They seemed to think it was ok. There was no telling whether Kaylo was going to be ok. I was going to look for the green liquid that I saw him take but Emjod beat me to it. He destroyed it. Good man. If he did not, I would insist on it.

Kaylo eventually came to and explained himself. It seemed to me he was slipping further to the side of darkness. No wonder he betrayed us in the castle. He might has closer connections to Veckna then I thought. He claimed some voice was undead and that was why he did not tell us. Someone who would help him find the treasure. What happens if that was Vekna? Maybe this was his gift for releasing him or someone of high standing. It was clear I could not trust him. He might side with Etrigan if I am forced to kill that human impersonating demon. Still I had time to watch and observe. I had to me sure. I did not want to kill an innocent person just because of a misunderstanding.

We continued on. We could see the temple in the distance. We saw beautiful looking giant of a person. Etrigan went to talk to him. Riatha immediately pulled an arrow, I tried to stop her. But she was insane. She kept saying it was a giant. I stalked away. I did not sign up for this insanity. Let them figure it out. I partake of no genocide especially when he did not appear to be a threat.

Eventually the misunderstanding was resolved. He was a titan not a giant. His name was Cletus. Odd name for a titan but I did not say anything. He gave us some more information about the temple and those pesky meerfits. Apparently he did not like them too. After some talking, he had a riddle he would like to solve. A solar gave it to him thinking he was not smart enough. We decided to give it a try. The only thing we came up with was an hourglass. I was a little skeptical. I thought of time but hourglass seemed to fit better. The titan left and Kaylo asked the titan if the riddle was right maybe we could get some help. He was not sure but he said the Solar might help us out if our riddle answer was correct. Kaylo even hinted that the Solar could sponsor me of sort. I appreciate Kaylo's attempt but I needed to figure my own problems. Still it could not hurt. Maybe Kaylo is trying to throw me off the trail. I am not sure. It was another dimension to think about.

As we neared the temple. We only saw one entrance. We entered only to set off some trap. We nearly fell down a trap door. We could hear some distant breathing. It sounded big. It was. A hydra. Kaylo casted an illusion to lure the hydra's heads while we hacked away. Eventually the hydra wised up and we had a full frontal assault. Not undead but I managed to get a few licks in. After some looting, Kaylo decided to investigate the pit. He found some interesting magic items before he scraped himself on a spike. It was poison. I managed to bring him back but he was pretty weak from the poison. Riatha and Emjod scouted out ahead while Drake, Etrigan, Kaylo and I stayed behind.

We were talking when all of a sudden everyone froze except for me! I sensed some magic. I pulled my weapon and checked everyone. They were alive. A blast came my way as I was hit by a magical missile. Now I was pissed. I was going to kick his ass! I wandered over to the dead hydra carcass where the magical attack came from. As I rounded the hydra, I thought passed my mind. He might be luring me away. I decided to hurry back. I was right. I saw Kaylo bleeding he was dead. I thought crossed my mind that I did not like. Good riddance. Maybe subconsciously I did not want Kaylo or Etrigan to live. After all a trained assassin would go for the toughest or a magic user. That meant Kaylo or Etrigan. Drake dressed like a thief and that would save him. I felt bad. It was my fault. I did not find much time to think. I waited for my opportunity. Eventually Drake and Etrigan were unfrozen. The assailant attacked us, I saw him and attacked! Unfortunately he got away. Emjod and Riatha came back just in see the assailant. He somehow managed to slip by them.

We were down one thief. Riatha and Emjod found another entrance. We continue down a ladder. Drake found a trap and disarmed it. It was designed to cut people in half if they went down the ladder. We continued on. They checked some of the rooms. As I hung back, someone attacked me! It was the thief. I concentrated on fighting him. None of my comrades came to my aid immediately. Eventually they did though. They claimed they did not see me. We attacked the thief. This time he did not get away though he did manage to give us a chase. Etrigan took him down in gargoyle form. At least we got payback for killing Kaylo.

When I next saw Etrigan, I got worried. He looked ghost like. I attempted to turn the foul ghost. It failed. The party assured me it was fine. Great. It only confirmed my suspicion. Etrigan was evil. The question was, did he want redemption? One path he will find an undead hunter blocking his way. The party told me it was the magical shield that allowed him to become a ghost. Still a foul weapon. Etrigan had not quite crossed the line but I would watch. One slip up……..

We decided to move on. Decided to ambush an ogre we saw in another room. Etrigan would pass through and attack and then the rest of the party would storm in. Unfortunately it did not go as planned. We set off some trap and were incased in some magic barrier. We could not get in or out. I did not have a dig spell. Eventually we decided to use our teleport spell to get out. It was our quick way to leave the desert and I did not like that we had to use it so quickly but I better than dead. We waited until the magic barrier disappeared and then quickly stormed in only to see Etrigan dead. We killed the ogre. We knew there were more of them. We entered the next room. Riatha spotted two dwarves entering and maybe a magic user. We set a trap and they fell for it. It did not take long to dispatch them but the wizard cast some spell generating magical tentacles. It took a little longer to finish off the tentacles. There was only one survivor. He claimed to be a prisoner of the part. His name was Viento or something along that.

We decided to rest up before exploring. I was glad. I did not have any spells and needed a break. I still had not proved myself despite my powerful trident. Etrigan was dead so it was one less thing to watch. I probably should not be hard on him. He saved my life many times. Still my duty was to stop foul necromantic arts and secondary to that was expelling demons and devils. I would have to talk to the party soon. I wanted to go back to the castle and destroy or obtain the Book of Winter to prevent Lorn from getting it.