Journal of Talian, #1
19th day of Running Moon, 221 A.T.F. (After The fall of the Sargun Empire)
First a little about me. My name is Talian.I'll leave my family name out of this for the moment, not that it is infamous or anything like that, just that it brings back sorrowful memories. I am originally from the Kingdom of Balinara, that fell to the vile armies of Kesh two years ago. I was a young apprentice to the Wizard Chanthias, when the Kesh invaded.
I'll leave the songs of the fall of Balinara to the poets who can speak of it better than I. But as the capital fell, I managed to escape alone, and scrabble over the Mistfell Mountains and into the borderlands to the south.
I was able to survive in the wild, and literally fell, rather abruptly, into the company of a Ranger named Synona. An older woman who lived among the tribal peoples that dwell on the southern slopes of the mountains. They mostly herded goats and sheep, but she was a hunter and pathfinder for them. She also kept the seasonal herding routs clear of monstrous obstructions. She taught me her way of the Ranger, and that, as well as my lingering knowledge of the Arcanum, makes up my rather eclectic skill set.
Life among the tribal peoples was harder than in the civilized world in many ways, but I felt stronger for it. However, I wasn't one of them. They had intricate social structures based on clans and families, and I just didn't fit in. Synona was sympathetic, but I think we both realized that I couldn't stay in the mountains forever. Two years later, I decided to descend to the flatlands below, and try to make a life for myself.
Parting her company, I climbed down out of the mountains, then I traveled East to the Kingdom of Madara, and have arrived on the outskirts of its territory, at a town named Dornia. With more skill than coin to my name I began to enquire about work. I learned that there was a sage looking for someone to help him with some kind of problem with his research. There was not much else to go on, just that it involved a tomb near his home, that he was researching the history of, and that it was recently occupied by something that was making his studies impossible.
I arrived as his home, on the road just out of town. The weathered wooden door opened as I approached it.
I was greeted by a wizened looking old man with a long beard that must have been red at some time, as the tips still bore a reddish hue."You've come about the job then." he stated from the doorway with one eye squinting at me comically.
"What gave it away?" I said sarcastically, but with enough of a smile not to offend."Was it my inquisitive stare, or the stealthy way I approached your house?”
"That, and all the weapons and gear you're carrying" he stated matching my sarcasm.
"My name's Talian, I was told you had a problem that needed fixing, and that you were looking for a scout with tomb exploring skills." I approached the front door and got a better look at the old man. Typical sage recluse. He was just barely conscious of his appearance to keep himself presentable, and was reed thin, as if he forgot more than a few meals each week. Probably from having his nose in some old tome.
"Greetings, Talian. I am Ordonos, some call me The Wise, or The Old. They may call me other things in town, but I rarely venture there so, I wouldn't know." He took a few steps toward me."Let me show you my problem", and he bade me follow as he walked around to the field at the back of the house.
"The tomb was from the days of the old Empire of Sargun." I believe it to be a resting place of a Sargunian Prince named Paulinius. If this is the case, then the records that might be contained inside may tell of the days of the 4th Dynastic Succession…" He began to go on about successions, dynasties, and other ephemera from a long time ago, but as he did he pointed towards a set of standing stones on the far side of the field. There was what looked like an arch, or lintel, with a door in it.
"Is that the entrance?" I interrupted his ramblings. I pointed over at the stones.
"Why yes," he said coming out of his reverie."You see things were nice and peaceful until last week, I could just go in, and wander around the corridors, so long as I was only in during the day, and kept a bright light. It's quite a big space down there. But last week there was some kind of collapse, I heard the ground rumble. Then there were figures in the field at night.I had to keep my doors locked and barred out of fear of what was around. If you could maybe find out what happened, and maybe make the place safe to study again that would be ideal. I can pay only 50 Pieces of Gold. I hope that is enough."
"That should pay for a couple of days of exploration." I said, not letting on that I had no other prospects."But, I want to keep any treasure I find".
He gave a small frown. "Perhaps I could look at anything you find first, and sketch it at least. It could be valuable as far as historical significance. And I may want to maybe purchase anything that I just absolutely need for my work."
"Agreed", I said, and made my way towards the tomb. It was just past noon, and I thought I could get at least a cursory look inside. Who knows, if it was just some goblin outcast looking for a place to put down roots, or something small like that, then this might just be an easy payday.
"Don't you want to hear more about the history behind the tomb? The old man called out to me as I began to walk away.
"No thanks", I said. "I'll just get started now. The sooner I'm done the sooner you can restart your research." I gave him a wave and marched towards the stones.
The Arch, looked more like the entrance to a basement from the inside of a castle, than a tomb, perhaps it was all the plain stonework. I expected something a little more ornate for a dead prince. The door opened easy enough, but I stopped to take a look to see if there were any footsteps. There were. None looked like they were from the old man. But they would have been worn away after a weeks weather. But there were at least three human or near-human individuals who were coming in and out of the tomb. Definitely not goblins.
I strung my bow, and notched an arrow. Best to be prepared. As I walked as quietly as I could down the stairs, I cast a spell that was one of the few that I remembered from my apprentice days. Light glowed on the small token I had on my left hand glove. I had it there just for that purpose. Now illuminated I could see the room at the bottom of the steps. It was mostly square, with a corridor leading into the darkness on the opposite wall. On the right wall was another wider exit, blocked by a portcullis, on the left wall was a door.
"Choices, choices." I said to myself as I walked to the door. Checking down the two corridors I saw only darkness beyond, so I walked over to the door. It wouldn't open, probably barred. I pulled out my pry-bar and began to work. But, it just wouldn't budge. Any more effort would be noisy, and I didn't want to attract notice from what might be down here. So I decided to try the corridor on the opposite wall of the entrance.
It became clear as I wandered around in the dark, my light token shining forward that this was a bit of a maze. More corridors branched off and I kept a mental record of where I was going. Even though the light spell would give my location away to anything in one of these corridors that could see it. I tried to keep as silent as possible. This paid off when I came to a door. It was a very old wooden door. The tomb was not that damp, and whoever built the door must have put a slight charm on it against the rot of time. The door was solid enough, but I did hear talking beyond it.
The voices were loud, but not speaking in the common tongue. It sounded more like Undercommon. A language I picked up training with Synona. The mountains had a lot of caves that led to the underdark, a realm of extensive caves under the crust of the world. If it was being spoken here, then that could be a clue as to what the "rumble" Ordonos spoke of was.
I cracked the door open, and then realized that my light spell, would give the door opening away. But it also revealed what was going on in the darkness of the room. The room was filled with broken urns and there was ashes scattered all on the floor. This must be the last resting place for those who could only afford to be cremated, and not a sarcophagus. There were two figures shouting and clawing at each other, they both looked about ready to exchange blows. Strangely enough, the two figures didn't even notice the light. It was when the door creaked that they stopped, and faced me. That was when I realized why they didn't immediately notice the light. Neither of them had eyes.
They were burly pale humanoids, wearing rough skins of some animal I couldn't guess the name of. As they faced me they both snarled and pulled out what looked like stone axes from rough leather belts. I was about to give a greeting in undercommon when one shouted "Surface Meat for the dark sacrifice!!" Or something like that. I wasn't sure, it was awful guttural, but I wasn't going to ask them to clarify themselves.
I let an arrow fly, which struck the nearest one in the middle of the chest. He staggered a little but kept coming. I dropped my bow and drew my two short swords, and prepared to face them in the doorway. At least they couldn't surround me that way.
The first one missed with his swing, but the other hit me with a blow that knocked the wind out of me. My next swing, against the wounded one took him down. My blade slashing across his neck.With his companion killed, and facing someone with two blades, the remaining creature fled to the back of the room, trying to escape, but there was no other way out except the portal I stood in the way of. I shouted, "Surrender, and live. Or fight and die", in the most menacing undercommon I could think of. The creature dropped his axe.
The next few minutes saw me coaxing out of the creature what they were doing here, and trying to understand its version of Undercommon. They were from a tribe of similar blind humanoids that lived deep underground. They were also rivals from some kind of slight that made no sense to me. One fled the tribe, and the other followed, intent on revenge. They found their way here to this surface place, and were about to have their final battle when I barged in. The creature, gave me some coins that he picked up in these rooms, and begged me to let him go.
Seeing that it was probably going to return to its tribe, far from here and not be a bother anymore, I did. Besides, whatever they were, they were not responsible for the sages problems. Their footprints were very different.
I decided to rest there for an hour or so, to catch my breath and get myself back into fighting shape. Fortunately the hour went by quietly. I then collected myself, and gear, and started out again.
It was about another five minutes that I came to another door. This one, more impressive. Forged from Iron, I balked at trying to open it, but to my surprise it turned out to be unlocked. As I opened it there was a slight glow coming from beyond. This time I had the wherewithal to cover my light before opening the door. Beyond the door appeared to be a short hallway leading to a larger room where the glow was coming from.
Slowly creeping into the room, getting used to the glow, I could see that the chamber used to be some kind of chapel. It was in a sad state, most of the pews and other holy objects were smashed and littered around the room. In the center, was probably the the most unexpected thing I could think of. A short person, with a broom, trying to clean up.
I think we both noticed each other at the same time. But I was able to lower my bow fast enough to not seem like I was about to attack."Greetings" I said in the Common tongue.
The person, which looked like a gnome, but with greyer skin in this light, cocked his head and said in Undercommon, "I don't know your words, Human."
I switched to Undercommon, "Then Greetings, again in your tongue. I am Talian, an explorer." I then let my light shine on the room. The gnome stepped back, shielding his eyes. I could then see that he was not any kind of gnome I was used to. He was bald with grey skin. Seeing his distress, I partially covered my light."Sorry, is that better?"
"Yes, I only use light to discern the colors of this place. I'm not used to it being as bright as you may be." He put down the broom, and stepped to an area he seemed to have already cleaned. There was probably the only two remaining functional chairs in the clean spot. He took a pack off of one of them, and sat down in the other. "I am Rimple Macgrabben, from the village of Pindown, which is probably a weeks journey from here as the bat flies."
I sat down in the other chair, and asked, "How did you come to be here, this close to the surface?" As I said this I took out a wineskin and offered him a drink. He took a sip, and reacted strangely. But happy.
"It has been a while since I tased surface wine." He said with a smile."My people used to trade with surface dwellers many years ago, but the trade routes to the surface became too dangerous. That is why I'm here. I was hoping to open a trading post. There seems to be enough protection from the Bright Air here for my people, and it's close enough to the door to the above for trade."
I see." I said."Then perhaps you can come to an agreement to the one in charge of this tomb."
"This is an active tomb!?" Rimple exclaimed, as he looked around."This person is not doing proper observances if so, this place is in a horrible state."
"Not exactly active." I said, trying to choose my words."This place has historic value, and there is a historian in charge of studying these ruins, and cataloging what he finds.""But since a week ago, there has been some people going in and out of the entrance, which concerned the historian enough to hire me to investigate."
"I think I understand." Said Rimple."I only arrived here two sandglasses ago. I have only peeked at the entrance. But, there were others down here, I heard them. Both Surfacespeak, and Undertongue, has been echoing among the halls." He then went to describe where he heard the voices. The Undertongue was most likely the Blind Rivals that I just dealt with. The Surfacespeak was a few corridors away.
I thanked Rimple, and offered to introduce him to Ordonos. Perhaps they could come to an agreement for shared use of the tomb. That might actually be the best outcome. Even better than I had hoped.
I left Rimple to his cleaning, and reminded him to at least bar the doors if they couldn't be locked. The surface above was safe enough, but if the tomb was open to the Underworld now, who knows what might find it's way up.
Following Rimple's guidance, and came across another Iron Door. Not close enough to be where Rimple heard the voices, but I thought I should investigate anyway.
The door was barred, but I was able to use the pry-bar to get it open without too much damage. Inside was a perfectly clean room. With no furnishings but strange marking on the wall. I'm not sure what it was used for, perhaps a divining room, where priest could speak with the dead buried here.I drew some sketches for Ordonos, perhaps he would know more. It should please him in any event to have some historical discoveries. I don't think he had been to this chamber yet.
Continuing to follow Rimple's directions I came to a storage room, which was also in a sad state of repair. I was able to locate a small floorstone that seemed a little "off", and after examining it, discovered a small cache of 10 strange looking coins. Not gold, but not silver. Perhaps Ordonos could identify them. There was a door in the north wall, and a corridor off to the south. I decided to try my luck at the door. I had just reached it when I heard voices to the south.
With all the stealth I could muster, I crept south along the corridor. I kept my light as dim as I could and still be able to see. The corridor opened to my left, almost double in size to the one I was in, I could see a set of double doors at the end of the side corridor. The voices were louder now. I couldn't quite understand what they were saying, but they were definitely speaking Surface Common.
I snuck up to the doors, and doused my light into my glove. Trying the doors I found them unlocked. Cracking one open, I could see three figures in black and red robes, in the center of the room. They were standing around a table, on it was what looked like an old skeleton. One of the figures was reading instructions from an old book. The other two seemed to be stitching the bones together. A symbol flashed on the one facing me. A pendant around his neck. The symbol of Xall, the demon god of the Kesh!
I admit I probably could have used better tactics at this point. But all those memories of the fall of Balinara came rushing back. The death of my family, of my Master, my friends! The arrow was flying before I realised what was happening. It struck the Cultist closest to me in the shoulder. She screamed in pain as the other two jumped in surprise. This gave me time to at least make use of the situation. I let another arrow fly, striking her again, and she slumped to the floor. I then decided to back away from the double doors and down the corridor, opening my gloved light as I did.
As the remaining two cultists tried to follow me through the doors, I was able to wound a second with an arrow. But only slightly. I dropped the bow and drew my two short swords as I retreated down the hallway. The first one caught up to me with a sprint, keeping me occupied as his companion drew closer with more caution. It was now a sword-fight.
There in the hallway of this tomb we cut and slashed at each other. The cautious cultist moved to block my escape, while his more rash companion swung his scimitar wildly at me, ignoring the arrow wound I had put in his arm. I heard that one shout "You shall burn in the Cauldron of Despair, as Xall laughs with glee at your suffering!"
I was able to parry his blows and force the point of my sword into his stomach. "Let him laugh at you first" I spoke into his ear as the last of his strength gave out in an attempt to grapple me. He collapsed in a heap on the floor as the last cultist moved in, this one was silent, with only madness burning in his eyes as he attacked, cutting me in the thigh. It was deep and I winced in pain as blood soaked my leg down to my boot.
Summoning all my reserves I stabbed back. That strike was incredibly lucky, my blade sliding through his ribs into his heart. He fell over onto the floor, next to his fellow cultist. The insanity in his glare, not fading even as he stared lifeless, up from the puddle of blood growing about him.
In the end I stood, bloodied, but victorious over the corpses of the Cultists of the hated demon god of Kesh. Still I was wounded, and no way to heal myself right now, and I was bleeding badly.
I searched the bodies of the three cultists, collecting their amulets and a pouch of gems that they had, as well as what appeared to be a rather powerful healing potion. I also collected the book they were reading from. I heard in the town that there was a local knight who was in charge of dispensing justice in the name of the Kingdom. He needed to hear of this. However I needed to rest and heal. All I could do at the moment was bind my leg enough to not leave a trail of blood wherever I went.
I returned to the Divination Room, which was at least clean, and with a good door. I barred the door, and am now resting for the night, having bound my wounds as best I can. And applying a salve I was taught to make by Synona of the Mistfell Mountains.