Freedom gained; new companions found

8 Uktar, 1479 DR

Let it be known, this journal chronicles but a few of my adventures and deeds. I begin my tale not in the beginning, nor the end, but upon gaining my freedom from imprisonment by a motley band of adventurers whom luck (or Tymora) would have it crossed my path.

My imprisonment was inglorious indeed, in fact, I would be killed out of hand by members of my own race for being taken captive by hobgoblins. Having decided to leave Luskan behind and travel south, I made my way to a small town and decided to stop for the night not knowing what lie ahead in the late hour of night. I decided to settle on a dark and run down inn of no repute whatsoever. As I settled in with a cold mug of tasteless ale, I was approached by a wretched dwarf of all things. It seems I had the only open chair in the inn and the dwarf decided he needed to share my table with me. Everyone besides this drunken creature had realized that one does not sit with a Drow, let alone approach them unbidden. Too tired to kill him outright, I allowed the thing to sit with me. He introduced himself as Thudd the Sullen and immediately bored me with his drunked tales of bravado and combat. I am not sure if that is his real name, but based on the sounds I later recalled of weapons smashing against his armor, I guess Thudd is appropriate enough of a name.


Not much longer after our forced acquaintance the attack came. I should not have been surprised that the human town would have no defenses or mediocre ones at best. The attack was fast and furious. I am not aware of the events outside of the tavern, but it appears that a large band of ogres, hobgoblins, and goblins attacked the city and sought out captives for Lloth knows what reasons. My companion Thudd, though more drunken than a dwarf in a barrel of ale, reacted swiftly with his sword and managed to slay a few goblins before being hit on the head and knocked out by an ogre wielding a table of all things. Not one to shy from a fight, but being aware of the odds against me, I attempted to slip away from the tavern only to run into a small group hobgoblins and ogres. I soon learned that sticking knives into ogres is not a good idea.

I have little memory of what happened next other than knowing I was among several captives from the town. I was moved around several times and eventually ended up in a cell with Thudd of all people. Locked up with few options, we waited, hoping to find a means to trick our guards into freeing us. We soon learned that Snigg, one of our gnome guards worked for some rag-tag hobgoblin band called the Army of the Red Hand under the command of a hobgoblin warlord known as Sinruth.

I am not sure how many days passed, but eventually our guard Snigg met with an accident at the hands of a motley band of adventurers hired to rescue the townsfolk. Thudd and I quickly asserted the need for us to join with them. I know not Thudd's reasons, though I suspect he wants revenge, companionship, and probably more ale. I tend to think of myself as a little more pragmatic. I gained my freedom but do not know my way out of this prison. If these adventurers can assist me along the way, so be it.

The adventurers also freed another individual in a seperate cell. A rather dour old man, he introduced himself as Sertanian, the Castellan of Highmoon. He appeared to once have been a formidable fighter, but age has taken its toll on the man, though he still holds onto his pride.

As the adventurers took a short rest to catch their wind, they introduced themselves and explained their task at hand (to free the townsfolk and retrieve some items). Elsaveth is a female Eladrin, who serves the god Amaunator. Lethowyn, is an male elven ranger, while the mysterious Thorne is a male Tiefling mage. I am uncomfortable around elves or eladrin, but fate has pushed us together. I can relate to the the demon-descendant Thorne, but for now I trust myself only.

As introductions were passed, an old crone Zerriska, previously freed by the band, spoke with the castellan. Sertanian quickly stressed that we needed to free the other prisoners and find the items taken from the town: an ornate dragon crested helm, three shields with a red hand imprint, one with a burnt hole in the center, a ceremonial long platinum longsword, iron gauntlets, and a battle standard with the symbol of Highmoon on it. Sertanian noted that he believed another townsfolk named Mirtala was another cell nearby. We agreed that we had to move quickly and free the prisoners and escape the catacombs.


Lethowyn and I being more stealthy than the others, scouted ahead and made our way up a flight of stairs. We approached a dark room with massive webs in the corners. My darkvision provided a clear view of three monstrosities. Lethowyn quickly identified them as ettercaps, arachnid like creatures that are at home with spiders and webs, two things from my past that I resent.

We alerted our companions and decided to strike and retreat down the stairs to allow Thudd to come forward and since his plate armor provided him formidable protection. Lethowyn quickly launched two arrows at his quarry and I let loose a bolt from my crossbow. We succeeded in wounding one and angering all three ettercaps. The ettercaps charged us as we retreated down the stairs. Thudd bounded before us and met the unwounded ettercap head on with a reaping strike. He was bitten with a return attack and slighly poisoned from the bite, but held is ground as Lethowyn cut down the wounded ettercap with a burst of two arrows from his bow. Thorne responded with some arcane chant that showered the ettercap engaged with Thudd with magical daggers that cut deeply into its chitinous hide. Elsaveth called upon her deity and released a blinding ray of golden light that seared into the ettercap, leaving behind a lingering light. Before I could reload, Lethowyn and I were immobilized in the sticky webbing launched by the ettercap webspinner, that remained at the top of the stairs. Lethowyn quickly freed himself, but I remained fastened to the walls. Thudd, with the help of the Thorne's arcane daggers and Elsaveth's light ray (Lance of Faith, I believe she calls it), quickly dispatched the ettercap that was still glowing from Elsaveth's attack. The webspinner fled with Thudd, Thorne, Elsaveth, and Lethowyn giving chase. As I cut myself free, I could hear my companions engaged with the last ettercap. I could hear the twang of Lethowyn's bow and the chanting of Thorne. These sounds were pierced by clangs on Thudd's armor and flashes of divinity that I could only assume were from Elsaveth.

As soon as I cut myself free, I ran up the stairs and saw my companions charging around a corner. The ettercap was still fighting strongly though Thudd was now also engaged with a repitle like creature that Lethowyn called a guard drake. It was small but its sharp claws and teeth marked it as a capable hunter. Disappearing down a flight a stairs and shouting for assistance appeared to be another hobgoblin. Thorne blasted more knives at the drake hoping to prevent it from striking at Thudd. The beast roared in fury with the attack but managed to strike Thudd. Thudd shrugged off the attack and cleaved at both the ettercap and the drake. Summoning my inner reserves I ran and tumbled over the drake hoping to position myself behind the ettercap for a fatal blow. I managed to succeed, but Thudd surged forward with an attack that managed to push the ettercap back a step, while allowing him to step past the drake unharmed. This allowed Lethowyn to dispatched the ettercap before I position myself for an attack. Elsaveth and Thorne ended the drake's life in short order, now that Thudd was not in the way.


At this point, we realized we had a problem. The hobgoblin escaped down the stairs to warn his companions. We had no idea how many goblins were below us but we could hear them speaking in growls and grunts. We also had to deal with the body of another townsperson, Kartenix, that Sertanian found in the ettercaps webs. We debated having Elsaveth telport down the stairs and inniating a sneak attack upon the hobgoblins, but we realized we would have no way to ensure her safety. Elsaveth decided to called upon her god to protect us and we felt his power surge through our bodies. Lethowyn ventured down the stairs and summoned me to him. We could see about five or so goblins about 15 feet away from us. We agreed that I would attempt to shoot a salvo of crossbow bolts in an attempt to blind them, which would allow Thorne to blast them with his magic. I rushed the goblins and raised my crossbow to fire but midstride I was hit with an arrow from an unseen archer. I managed to release some bolts killing a few of the goblins, but the hobgoblin leader remained alive. Lethowyn and Thudd quickly joined the fight and engaged the hobgoblin leader. Elsaveth and Thorne engaged the surving hobgoblin in an attempt to get to the archer. Thudd quickly dispatched the leader while Elsaveth and Thorne cut down the hobgoblin minion. Lethowyn and Thorne dashed acrossed what appeared to be a crypt and removed the threat from the hobgoblin archer. We all collapsed from the effort and rested.

The room contained four sarcophagi and two ominious alters that Elsaveth identified as being dedicated to Bane, the Black Lord of Tyranny. The crypt appeared to have been dedicated to a noble family named Rivenroar. Thorne attempted to decipher some ancient writing on the ceiling and walls that mentioned the Rivenroars and the Day of the Black Sun. The writing further eluded to a seeking a momument in the lands around us. We were all perplexed by the writing, but had no time to think deeply about it. Lethowyn and Thudd, with assistance from everyone, slid the covers off the sarcophagi where we found some treasure. We found a silk bag containing gold and silver coins in addition to a silver powder that Thorne identified as residuum. There was also a chest with some more gold and silver coins. To my delight, the corpse in the sarcophagus had the most impressive and well crafted boots. I tried them on and felt as if I could sneak even more proficiently by wearing them. Thorne found a pair a magical spectacles that allowed him to comprehend any language he read.

After a short rest we continued on. Lethowyn and I scouted ahead though two doors. We came upon a room that had an eerie magical glow. At the far end of the room appeared to be a sacrificial alter with a yound woman tied to it. The room contained four pillars with mythical beasts upon them with glowing red eyes. Lethowyn identified them as displacer beasts. Creatures capable of shifting their location. We called Thorne and Elsaveth forward to determine if the statues were magicial since their eyes were glowing red. They did not detect any magical readings but advised us to used caution. We realized we had to get to the girl, but had to dispatch some large nasty looking rats that appeared diseased. Lethowyn and I attacked from a distance and drew the rats to us. As they attacked us, Thudd raced forward to engage them. Lethowyn and Thudd were bitten and almost immediately turned white in color from the nasty wounds. Thorne stepped forward a launched a series of magic missiles at a rat blasting its charred corpse across the room to lie in a smoking pile. Elsaveth, Thudd, and I managed to kill of the remaining two rats.


I decided to run to the girl, but was cut short by a bolt in the arm. I quickly realized that hidden in a darkened corner of the room appeared to be a gnome. Lethowyn came up behind me and launched two arrows at the gnome, but as one struck the gnome, the creature vanished from sight. Thorne came forward with Elsaveth and Thudd. We realized we had the creature cornered even though we could not see it. We began to launch attacks erratically in the area where we thought the gnome was. Elsaveth turned her attention to attending the young girl on the alter. No sooner had we managed (with Tymora's luck) to locate and kill the invisible gnome when Elsaveth was attacked by another gnome.

Thorne attacked the gnome and it immediately vanished from sight. As Lethowyn, Thudd, and Thorne attempted to located and capture the gnome, Elsaveth and I ran to the frightened girl. I heard Thorne chant something and heard a dull noise followed by multiple thuds. It seems Thorne cast a spell that made the gnome fall unconcious. However, the gnome was invisibile and the "thuds" were the sound of Thudd (maybe that is how he got his name) pounding on the ground looking for the invisible gnome. Lethowyn and Thudd quickly found him and bound his arms. Elsaveth and I attended the girl who appeared diseased from multiple rat bites. She clung to life and Elsaveth managed to calm the girl down enough for her to identify herself as Mirtala, a cook from town.

Having just fought several battles we decided it was time to regroup and take an extended rest so that we could prepare for what lies ahead of us as we search for the remaining townsfolk and missing items. My rescuers have proven themselves as capable individuals. I am still uncertain what lies ahead, but for now I feel secure in joining this motley band.