Day 24 - The caves

It was a grey, overcast, misty, even drizzly day.

We packed up our camp and claimed individual horses left by the brigands the day before. Gaius chooses a white horse while Raine's is as black as night. She proudly named her horse "Mercedes".

Urthek told us about a cache of weapons hidden in a nearby cave system. He said thats where they found the weapons they are all carrying. One of the men offered to let Talia keep the battle axe she used from the night before, but she kindly refused, not wanting to disarm a friend. Chupa did keep the long sword he used last night. I kept a crossbow after Raine promised she would make more bolts in a few days. We decided to explore the caves and stock up on weapons from the cache.

We travel for several hours until we come to the entrance of the cave system. Urthek gives us directions back to their village and cheerfully departs. We stowed our belongings (including my crate and Tasha's chest) in a carefully hidden hollow under some rocks and trees, then rein the horses near the entrance.

And, for the first time in my life, I climbed deep underground.

Day 23.3 - After the fight

After that battle, I decided that Gaius should become known as "The Demon Spawn of the Seas". In my writings, Gaius and I decided to give a name to this beach. Chupa wanted a reference to himself. After their individual performances last night, I agreed to a compromise: "Waterfound Beach" (since this is where we finally found clean drinking water) "upon Chupa's Strand" (I had to explain to him that a strand is another name for a beach).

In the middle of the night, Talia awoke. She looked horrible. Gaius had been up all night reading his grandfather's book, so he immediately noticed and brought her some water. I took her back to the river and she told me of her latest nightmare: she attacked and killed Chupa. Obviously, Chupa was fine, snoring peacefully near the camp fire, but Talia begged me to tie up at night. Before I could argue, a horrible smell assaulted us accompanied by a rustling in the bushes on the other side of the river. We quickly headed back to camp since we were not in the mood to fight anything else. One of the horsemen later told us it was probably a skunk-ape. A dangerous creature in these parts, if you could withstand getting close enough to one.

I finally cave in and agree to Talia's wishes and restrain her, but not too tightly. She struggles through the night, but finally fell asleep.

Day 23.1 - The brigands

13 more horsemen appeared out of the woods. Urthek stepped forward and started speaking to their leader. Although none of us could hear their words, the conversation became heated. Suddenly, Urthek shouts "These are my woods, they are my friends!" He drew his sword, and with one swing, beheaded his rival!!!! 4 horses FAINTED!!! The brigands immediately scattered, but Urthek calmly picked up the head and again shouted "These are my woods and they are my friends!" holding the head up for all to see. Not one of Urthek's men moved. Once everyone had scattered, we collected the horses they left behind.

Urthek threw his sword to me, put I dropped it. "Pick it up." His words sent chills deep into my soul. He told us that the band would be back again once they had regrouped and rearmed. It would be up to the five of us to face them when they returned. I wanted to leave, but Urthek insisted that we stand our ground and unify our two groups. He felt they would be back in six hours... close to sunset. Talia and Chupa started practicing with borrowed weapons. The swords just don't feel right to me, so I quietly composed a new poem.

With less than an hour left before sunset, Urthek and his clan began meditating.

As if by prophecy, the brigands returned, all 12 of them. Urthek and his men stopped meditating, but only moved enough so all of them sat facing the upcoming battle. The rest of us stood together, but I didn't know what I could do to support my friends. Sometimes, my friends back on the islands would tell me that my songs and poems would inspire them. I decided I would try to tell my newly composed poem about Urthek and his personal fight against these brigands to inspire my friends and demoralize our foes. Without warning, Gaius screamed:

"Do you come here without fear? I hold the four fires of Hell in my hand!" Sure enough, there were four flaming spheres in his hands. "Let he who is without fear face me!!! Be the first to feel the fires of Hell!" One of the fires flew from his hand and hit a brigand in the chest. A couple of our enemies immediately fled back into the forest. Some seemed uncertain of what to do, and the rest charged at us. "Come forth demon from hell!" Niko, Gaius's monkey jumped onto Gaius's head as another flaming sphere hit someone in the chest. "Your lives are now forfeit!"

I'm not really sure what happened after that. I started reciting the poem I had composed. I heard Talia scream "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood!". I think she also yelled "Bad Chupa!" but I don't know why. Some more horses fainted. Some more men ran away. I was hit in the arm with a crossbow bolt. I know that Raine was also hit with a bolt on more than one occasion. I think one of the brigands begged for his life, but Chupa slew him after Raine was hurt. I guess that's where "Bad Chupa" came from. I think she had a point. Chupa seemed to lose his mind with that sword in his hand. I think I tried to attack someone with a knife after I was hit, but its all a blur to me now. Three of their men were dead. We only had a few moderate injuries... nothing too serious.

We had taken 3 lives that day. That normally would have put us in dire need for Lady Hope's blessings, but I don't think she would visit upon us any longer. I'm sure that Urthek said something positive and supportive of us, but his words were lost on me.

I guided Talia to a secluded spot along the river so that she could wash up. He was hurt worse than the others, but she put her hand on her deepest wounds and a blue light ungulfed the area. Within seconds the wound wasn't so deep and looked like little more than a superficial cut. He clothes were spattered in blood, so I gave her my cloak and she undressed. I tried to turn quickly to give her privacy, but I was surprised by her actions. She didn't seem to care. Perhaps we are more than friends. Perhaps nothing could phaze her right now. She said very little to me.

Chupa and I, along with some of the horsemen, carried the bodies of our enemies deeper in the forest and buried them. It took some time, but it was the right thing to do.

Day 23.2 - The horsemen

While out gathering wood and food, we hear Gaius whistle an alarm back at camp. We race back only to find 17 horsemen ride out of the forest and stand outside our camp. There's a giant wolf-dog next to one of the riders. The leader, Urthek, introduced himself (and his dog Rusalka. This creature is 4 feet at the shoulder!!) and told us that there has been a lot of activity in the area. We learned that Candlekeep is in ruins, which upsets the captain to no end. Urthek's village is built south of the ruins of the city. These horsemen seemed friendly enough, so we invited them to join us for lunch. Bale, Urthek's second in command, pulls out a flask containing what he calls "Drink of the gods". Not "Hope's drink" or some such nonsense. Maybe there is a chance of learning deeper truths here after all. Gaius calls this drink "wine". During the feast, I overhear Bale telling Gaius about a goddess called "Athena". He calls her one of the good "Elder gods" and has something to do with Wisdom and Skill.

Chupa convinces me to tell the story about the villagers rowing to a nearby island to gather fruit. They get lost and spend 300 days stranded on the isle, unable to build a new raft. Every attempt to leave the island results in the landing right back on the same beach. As usual, Chupa loves the story, but even our new friends seemed to enjoy the tale. After lunch, Talia, Raine, and Chupa tend to the wounded horsemen, which seems to cheer this group up even more.

But that's when Rusalka started growling. The men automatically lined up, sheilding us from whoever or whatever was coming.

Day 22 - The river

We sailed out of the bay and along the shore. We finally come to a river and the captain says that we have traveled far enough north. We setup a camp off of the beach near the river. The water is clear and refreshing. Sometime today, Talia told Chupa about her dreams. She's been running through a pine forest, just like the one we are camped near.

Day 20 - Mainland?

Gaius and I have been studying my grandfather's books, as well as a journal written by his "grandfather", Astral. We believe that Astral lived nearly 500 years ago, around the time when Darkness fell across the world. I wonder if this journal will be read by my ancestors some 500 years from now...

We found land near sunset. The captain believes that we are too far south from the the city of Candlekeep. We decide to anchor in the bay because the forest seems too thick to explore at dusk.

Day 17 - Water water everywhere

Talia's dreams are getting worse. Gaius and I spoke today about Mildred. We haven't seen him for nearly a week.

Day 12 - Talia's nightmares

Talia pulled me aside and told me about the almost constant nightmares she's been having. She has been weeping in her sleep and becomes very animated at times. Most of her dreams have a similar theme: she sees herself running through the forest catching and eating animals. She can taste the blood and it sickens her. She has been eating less and less, but has become very thirsty. She also says that her hand started glowing during the last full moon. She asked that I sing her to sleep and sleep next to her.

Day 11 - Land Ho!

Found land today. Landed on the beach. All of us walked along the shore collecting water, firewood, and food (thank goodness! We were running so low on rations.) We decided to rest for the night on dry land, so we made camp.

Sometime in the middle of the night, while I was on on watch, I heard some noises deeper into the forest we were camped near. I quickly woke everyone. Gaius started yelling "Hello" in several languages (I recognized a couple of them). Someone actually responded in some gutteral language I had never heard. Gaius told me it is known as "Beastman". 8 "Beastmen" walked out of the woods to the west of us. Gaius related the conversation to me later. He cast he spell he calls "Dancing Lights".

The Beastmen claimed that they had owned the island we were on for 2 moons. A 9th beastman walked out of the woods, larger than any of the others, and apparently their leader. The leader was clearly impressed with Gaius' command of magic. He asked Gaius to stay and teach his knowledge of arcane magic to their Shaman. We figured out that they wanted Gaius to stay for 1 year. After some discussion, Gaius convinces the leader that all of us should be allowed to stay. He agrees, but insists that we should trade our women during that time. I nearly vomited at that suggestion. I would have felt bad for Raine and Talia, as well as the rest of us. They looked like wolves walking on two legs. I couldn't even imagine bedding a wolf-creature for a year. Gaius declined the offer, but the Shaman wanted our leader to fight their leader. An arguemtn ensued and even Raine started making threats to the Beastmen. In the escalating confusion, Talia and I started packing what we could and carried the chest and our gear back toward the boat. They started speaking Elven at that point (I could now understand them!) and the Shaman calmed things down. The Shaman wished us peace and a safe journey and did not want to see a battle between our "clans". He gave Gaius a flaming coin and a piece of their tribal flag. We were welcomed to return when we could spend the time teaching them.

We finished packing the boat and departed in the middle of the night.

Alaundo's Letter

"It has been given to me to see glimpses of the future, moments of the measureless time that lie ahead for this world of Toril, called by some the Forgotten Realms. I sit here among the halls and chambers upon chambers crammed with books, books that capture something of our great past. All too often, folk want to know where the nones of great kings or legendary dragons lie... or more precisely where their treasure may be found, if the truth be told. There are a few questors however, whose eyes hold the light of wonder, and who want to know more of this vast, glorious, historied world."

- Alaundo of Candlekeep
344 A.C.
The Year of the Voyage