Interesting stuff! Enjoy your MVP!
On Tue, 20 Aug 2019, 00:41 Tim Cornish, <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
After several [illegible] travel, my new companions and I arrived at First
Landing, and truly it is as humble as it had been described, a few tattered
tents on a far flung shore. Upon coming ashore the settlement was largely
abandoned, however after a stuttering spell a weathered fisherman pointed
us in the direction of a crude map of the surrounding area. You would think
he’d never seen a Tortle before.
A nearby note suggested that the settlement would benefit from a source of
lumber, and it being early, and having been sequestered in close quarters
for the last few [illegible], we set out immediately, keen to both explore
this new continent and prove our worth to our new community.
My travelling companions were a stout Dwarven warrior by the name of Agar,
calm and considered, but willing to put himself between us and danger, a
pact-bound Godborn called Serenity, who served as our navigator, and Teerx,
a fellow arcanist, of the Urukim known as Hobgoblins, with his hawk
familiar.
We set out westwards along the beach, finding a series of pools where the
fish were abundant enough to almost catch by hand and fresh water sprang
from the rocks. We intended to skirt the swamp someone had marked on the
map, however Teerx informed us via his familiar that a tower of some kind
stood in the centre of the bog. I persuaded my companions that this
unexpected discovery could hold invaluable information, and they agreed to
my proposed diversion.
The swamp itself was treacherous, including a forest of man sized fungi
that, despite our precautions, caused me no-end of suffering although my
companions seemed unaffected by the spores. Approaching the tower, it stood
some 40ft tall, and is made of some kind of black stone. Unless I miss my
guess, similar structures exist (existed? For they now stand in ruins) in
Valyria, and are said to pre-date the mage war. An entrance was evident on
the ground floor, but was sealed with some kind of arcane lock. It appeared
to be demanding a nine word passphrase in a language similar to, but
distinct from, Elvish. The walls and door of the tower were impervious to
our attempts to enter by force.
Failing to solve this lock, I instead called upon the gifts of the spider
to scale the tower, entering through the damaged wall, and lowered a rope
to my companions. To my great shame, my clumsy claws failed to secure the
rope adequately (I blame the aforementioned allergies), and Teerx and
Serenity nearly came a cropper. Thankfully adrenaline can achieve great
things, and I was able to hold onto the rope until Teerx could climb
through, and his herbalism skills provided a draught sufficient to revive
Serenity, following his fall.
In the chamber at the top of the tower we found the remains of several
humanoid creatures, surrounding a giant crystal that emanates conjuration
and evocation magic. It appears the creatures were trying to manipulate the
energy field of the crystal using bronze tools, when some kind of disaster
occurred, killing them all instantly. The crystal itself appeared
undamaged.
On the floor below we found some living quarters - with the occupants
still inside. Four Elf like creatures lay desiccated, but well preserved in
their bunks. Unlike the Elves of Valyria, these creatures had blond hair,
and bronzed skin. Serenity could find no evidence of violence, so the
assumption is they died in their sleep. Whomever these people were, they
wore a white rose as a symbol. We gathered some of their vestments for
reference.
My magic did allow me to translate the single written record we did find,
again written in a script not dissimilar from Elvish, but sadly it does not
grant me the ability to speak the language, and repeating the phrase in
Elvish did not provoke the desired results.
A further floor below revealed a teleportation circle, damaged beyond our
ability to repair, along with several decorative suits of armour, and
matching weaponry, however the final activation of the circle had damaged
many of these beyond repair. Those still intact animated to repel us,
however we soon dispatched these enchanted guardian. The fact their magic
is still intact after all these years is quite remarkable. This chamber had
a second door protected by an arcane lock, however again, we were unable to
open it. The contents of the ground floor of the tower must remain a
mystery for now.
Returning to the top of the tower, we had a view back the way we came
along the beach, but my irritated eyes were not up to mapping our route.
Serenity insisted on burying the remains of the Elf creatures, and Teerx
and I were glad to take a break while Agar dug, and Serenity swept, however
this did allow two insectoid creatures to sneak up on us. These beasts were
as large as a donkey, with a chitinous shell that repelled Agar’s weapons,
and scythe like arms and a vicious bite, strong enough to pierce even fine
dwarven chain. Poor valiant Agar suffered significantly defending us from
the claws of these beasts, but Serenity dealt weal with one hand and woe
with the other, preserving the life of our new friend, while Teerx and I
established that the creature’s shells provided no significant defence from
the heat of flame.
With the sun now past it’s peak, and with my companions wounded, we
decided it would be foolhardy to press on further this day and turned for
our new “home” such as it is, in the hope of meeting and sharing
information with some of the other brave souls who have preceded us on this
adventure. I must terminate this record here as I hear some new voices
outside, who may be able to tell me more of this strange new lands. I hear
tell of a tribe of Urukim native to this continent- perhaps I will find
someone to lead me in that direction tomorrow - and hopefully these dreaded
allergies will have passed.
