Characters:
- Kaelan (Artificer)
- Fae’ael (Ranger)
- Ilai (Druid)
- Gloom (Wizard)
An Excerpt from the Diary of a Glass Man
Days Since Last Near Death Experience: 50
It’s been quite a while since I last adventured from the town we now call Sophia’s Rest. I was called on to assist with the exploration to the south, past what the others called a ‘sea’. I am told that it is a large body of water, and that we would be walking across it. On my previous adventure I saw what people had called a ‘river’ and what we were going to see was a much larger version of this. It seems odd to me that water would gather in such large quantities, in the desert I called home I was lucky to see even a drop of water outside of towns that were set up to create it using powerful magics.
We travelled from town to an Abandoned Garrison near this ‘sea’ and after resting for the night which I spent comfortably chatting away to my new dwarven friend about the beverages of his homeland and of mine, although his were much more fantastic in description, on reflection afterwards, it made me realise how little I cared for the place I called home. I saw it for the first time in the morning light. It was amazing, it was a glorious sight, water as far as the eye could see in nearly every direction. I hadn’t met one of our party members before, the Eladrin who’s name I learned was Ilai cast some rituals that apparently allowed us to both breathe and walk on water. As I stepped on it I felt so odd, I grabbed onto the cloak of the person walking in front of me for most of the journey fearing my next step would send me sinking into the depths of this ‘sea’. After what seemed like an age of walking, my feet were finally back on familiar footing as we had found a small island, as we approached it seemed as though it was quite long, at its southern end it had large cliffs and angular rocky hills that jutted out from the water, but we made landfall on ever familiar sand of the ‘beach’ which is apparently the smallest of deserts, leading to more verdant greenery. We explored around and found some large canine-like animal tracks on our walk across the island, although I was told that they were unnatural, malformed compared to what a wolf or other large animal of its kind should make. We decided to explore the northern half of the island before we called it a day, which to be perfectly honest the rest of the party seemed happy to do but after discovering those tracks I was quite hesitant – but went along anyway. I did not want to be alone when a creature like that was walking about. And to be perfectly honest, I was proven right not a few hours later. We came across the ruins of an old… town maybe? It was too destroyed to really tell although the others were seemingly excited by a small altar of worship they located still somewhat intact. We bunked down amongst the ruins and in the middle of the night we were awoken by a howl in the distance. The large canid creature that we saw tracks of was apparently some giant monstrosity of a creature, twisted and warped by something not of the mundane world. We attempted to slay the creature, but it proved to be too big of a threat. It was already munching on one poor fellow by the time we got there and in our attempt the Eladrin had a chunk taken out of them. Thankfully healing magic was able to restore them to shape-shifting shape and we escaped by water (Who knew swimming was such fun, even in slightly perilous times!?).
Our trip via the water led us southwest along the opposite coast of the island than we arrived. Nearing the start of the southern cliffs, we came across larger than life humanoid statues . I could not tell their race, but at the base of the one we chose to rest at, it appeared as though something had been kept prisoner, large stone blocks and heavy chains lay empty. I would have guessed that this is where our… friend we had just escaped from was previously held and we encountered a carving that held a warning of its presence. Apparently this island is its prison. Needless to say, we rested as much as we could before immediately taking to walking across the sea once more to continue this scouting journey. My second journey walking across the water was not as nerve wracking as the first, I knew that I would not fall into the depths, however we saw a large group of sharks get swallowed by something… much larger. This appeared to unnerve the rest of the party, and they told me later that sharks are considered apex creatures in most environments, having something swallow them so easily is not normally seen. Suffice to say I am glad our return is planned with much smaller trips across open water thanks to the island chain to the south.
Once we were on the southern landmass, I was very disheartened to hear the sombre note in Fae’ael’s voice when they told the dwarf and I of their suspicions about Ilai’s wound. I took it upon myself to walk in the Eladrin’s dreams to see if their subconscious mind would lend any credence to the claims. I had never done this with a creature who required such little sleep, and to touch the mind of the dreaming Eladrin was odd to say the least, but I hope it was at least a comfort to them to have someone a little closer in the night. Thankfully nothing in their waking dream seemed to point to any lasting damage from the fight.
As we travel in the day, passing through the grassland near the coast and into a small forested area, the ranger and the druid come across more canine-like tracks – thankfully identified as Displacer Beast tracks – Frightened as I was by the monstrosity from yesterday I did not want to tangle with something so large again. We continued into the mountains to survey the land beyond.
After climbing for most of the day, we rested near the top of the first mountain. The views were spectacular, and as I completed my watch that night I enjoyed chatting to the dwarf while they slept yet again. We talked of odd creatures in both our homes. I’m not quite sure he believed that I had seen a worm large enough to swallow a town larger than Sophia’s Rest, but I can’t say I believed some of his fantastical tales either. Alas we were not to have a restful night that night either, as in the middle of Fae’el’s watch some earthen elementals decided that if they couldn’t sleep, we shouldn’t either. Dispatching them proved difficult, as they used the distance between the four of us to separate our number. Thankfully Fae’ael and Ilia could teleport and were not as I feared would happen, thrown or pushed from the cliff face when the two elementals got them a little too close to the edge for comfort and we prevailed against our earthen foe.
Continuing south in the mountain range the next morning, we came across a temple devoted to a goddess of nature, I am told their name is Satori. The temple was old, covered in overgrowth and vines. A mural on one of the walls appeared to hint at a cave existing in the mountains to the north we had just crossed that may contain religious texts or scrolls related to this goddess, but that will have to wait for another adventure as we have travelled already for four days and with our provisions running low we must begin our return to town.
We angled ourselves north west so we could reach the chain of islands that would lead us towards home. Along the way we encountered a few Displacer Beasts, though they were easy enough to fend off. The islands themselves, for the most part, appeared to be nearly void of any vegetation bar the grass and sand that kept them together. The largest of the four islands, the north western most island was however far different. It was much larger in size, and it’s terrain more hilly and vibrant with vegetation and wildlife. We also discovered the tracks of a creature that appears to have hooved hind legs and clawed forelegs. Thankfully despite having to spend the night on the island, we managed to avoid whatever this creature was before again crossing the final stretch of water that led us back to a road that would take us home.
This adventure, dear diary has taught me much of a world I have not seen, Of sea and creatures better left unseen. The most curious of things however, has been the small glimpse into the lives of those around me. The ones known as Fae’ael and Ilai seem to be much closer to each other than any other two that I know within the town. I haven’t the heart to tell them I overheard some of their conversation the night of the elemental attack, but that is a secret I shall keep for their story is their own to tell. Thus again my dearest diary does the near death experience counter have to reach zero. I am part of a party heading out again soon. I wonder if it will ever reach triple digits?
~ Gloom
