Journal - A Search for Answers

Gilrad and the Villagers

As we returned to the village we noticed that the leader was talking to a small group of Saloroc (orcs) near the temple. They noticed us and started pointing, but did not seem overly worried or aggressive. The leader was obviously reassuring them that we were friends and no threat. As we got closer we could see that the leader was paying them for something. Falcor decided to find somewhere else to be, not having had much luck with the orcs before, but Arad and I approached them.

The leader welcomed us, and explained that he had been arranging for food and supplies. He introduced Team Chief Grouk of Clan Red Skull. We greeted him warmly, saying that would be friends. He asked if Arad would help them as Melak had done before, to which he said he would try and live up to Melak's legacy. They said that they were born in darkness, as we were born in light, but we were all born of the same mother. Melak had helped their clan leader in the past, which is how they had become trading partners and allies. He also said that The Mother taught them that each much fend for themselves.

The Red Skull Clan were recent arrivals, and their ancestral clan lands lay to the west. They had been driven by darkness from those lands, and were accomplished sea travelers. They warned that there was a great evil in the land, as though death were amongst the living. Not many of their fellow clans had chosen to follow the light, and many were seduced by the dark.

Arad grasped Grouk's offered hand, then a colleague gave Grouk a wineskin; he sprinkled liquor over their hands, took a swig and offered it to Arad. I could smell it from a few paces away, and it must have had some strength to it. Arad took a swig anyway, coughing a little at the bitter, raw taste, but showing respect for the ritual. Arad said that he welcomed this alliance, as friends are hard to find in these dark times. Arad also offered a pot of healing ointment, which was gratefully accepted with much thanks - it was obviously of great worth to them. They then said that they had to leave if they were to arrange for the supplies to be brought to Gilrad (now we had a name for the human leader, as nobody had cared to ask). The small band turned and left quickly, but at least we had reforged the link between them and the village.

Whilst this was happening, Falcor was lending a hand to the rebuilding efforts, and asking the villagers for information whilst working. He asked about the goblin attack; they had come from the north, what seemed like dozens, and attacked in the night whilst most were sleeping. They were not used to setting guards, so there was no warning. All of those they saw attack were goblins.

The villagers were fisherman, and had met the Red Skull clan in the waters to west; they had always been cautious near the humans, but not hostile. They had approached Melak's people when their Chief was seriously ill, and they in turn brought him to Melak who was able to heal what were mortal wounds. After that they started a trade relationship, which was valuable to the villagers as they had no contact with Freeport. The people of Freeport shunned them because of their belief in the Lord Creator; people there worship Treddar. They had instead relied on the Red Skull Clan as a valuable source of supplies they could not gather themselves.

We gathered together again, sharing what we had learned. Falcor and Arad spoke of their past worlds; Arad had lost his sister to dogs like we had seen in the south. He had heard from his torturers that Maladan, where Falcor was from, had made use of the elves in partnership, despite Imperial law being clear that elves were to be outlawed, and elves were generally hated by humans. Falcor explained that the Dukedom of Maladan was more liberal than most human lands. Arad's sister made trips to the Duke when his son was born. Apparently the Emperor did not know of this heir, but Rodel (the mage or necromancer that tortured Arad) did, and wanted information about this boy.

Falcor was supposed to accompany the heir as a companion, as it was traditional for someone from lower birth to grow up and learn together with the heir, to be friends. Sadly they were separated when the castle fell. Sarn was his name. Rodel did not know where heir was, and he had said he "...was not looking for a saviour, he just needed a soul of a god."

Falcor said on that day the legion visited such death and destruction on our castle that he wasn't sure if anyone had survived. General Andivas had asked for a private audience before the killing started, which included Sarn, but what happened next he did not know.

Arad was sent with a "gift" for the boy, by Rodel: a dagger set with a black diamond soul stone, which apparently was the most precious kind. When he was plucked by Jeanette from his death, though, he was taken to another world and he did not know what happened to the dagger, which was missing.

Arad spoke with Gilrad, calling everyone to the temple for lunch. As he waited he learned from Gilrad that Melak died about a moon cycle ago, and it was he that was laid to rest in the tomb in the temple; it had been created for him as he knew the hour of his death. Apparently he was also the one in the murals on the walls, and he had always been there, having founded the village. He had often spoken of the demon that would come after him to save the village, which had now come to pass. He spoke again about the remains of Melak, and the items interred with him. Gilrad was adamant that what was Melak's in life was now Arad's to do with as he pleased.

We ate lunch as before in the temple, following the usual ritual, and waited until the humans went back to their work. Arad then stepped up to the sarcophagus and shifted it open again, although I stood well back. He reached inside and took the rings and the amulet. He held the ring set with a stone near to the hammer, and like before the stone was drawn to it, plucking itself from the ring and slotting easily into one of the spaces in the hammer. He wore the rings and the amulet, wishing to be seen as the new priest by the village. This offended Falcor, who had been taught to respect the dead and leave them to rest... apparently in their land all of the dead would be laid to rest in this way, and defiling a tomb was a crime. I was not so bothered, as to us dead bodies are just empty vessels, but I still wanted nothing to do with the items within.

I did find out from the villagers a little more about the islands we had seen to the north and west. There were three in total, making this little archipelago look a little like a paw print from above. We were on the largest island; the most southerly of the smaller islands was apparently "cursed" and they avoided it; the central island had a tower on it that was home to the "great mage that watches", and the most northerly had some ruins on it - the villagers tended to avoid this place, but were not aware of any curses.

We decided to rest for the night and think on what we would do next... at least that's what the others thought - I had other ideas!

Night Jaunt

As ever, I slept fitfully, frequently snapping awake at the slightest sound; the Dark Forest was troubling me even as I tried to sleep. It was clearly a place of deep evil and yet was working against itself. The trees had seemed to be drawing us deeper in, hiding the tracks as soon as we had followed them, clearing a path ahead through the brambles but closing up behind us. Yet, even while the forest was drawing us deeper, the creatures we encountered clearly were trying to stop us. The attack by the spiders was perhaps happenstance, they had seen little else that could feed such huge creatures, so we must have seemed like a gift from whatever unholy gods the beasts worshipped. The dogs though were something else again; they were stalking us, hunting us. Their actions were deliberate and the unholy creatures were like nothing I had ever heard tell of, even when the old men told stories to scare the little children! Perhaps the forces of evil aligned against them were not coherent, competing with themselves for the prize of delivering three fresh souls to whatever master each served? More compelling though, was my instinct that the transition from the normal lands of the island to the closed, dark, lifeless world of the forest, was nothing natural. They had followed a path to find it, and maybe the path itself was the trap? Had they been deceived from the very edge of the village, drawn from the outset into some trap that the hellish hounds had inadvertently prevented them ever reaching?

Not long after the village had fallen silent, I gave up on my futile efforts to find sleep and gathered my belongings quietly. It took all my skills, mastered while evading the human scum in Freeport, to sneak out of the Temple without alerting the others. The doors opened soundlessly but the action clearly triggered a reaction from Arad, who stirred and mumbled in his sleep. I froze in place, sinking back into the shadows beside the doors, listening intently for any reaction. Finally satisfied that Arad had fallen back into sleep, I slipped out of the Temple door and set off to the south. Resolving from the outset to avoid the same trap as last time, I set off in a south-westerly direction, making no attempt to find the trail that we had followed earlier that day.

Almost as soon as I stepped beyond the protective barrier of the village, the night-time temperature dropped several degrees. Apparently the temple’s protection extended to more than just those intent on evil deeds - the elements themselves were somehow controlled inside the barrier as well. It was not only the temperature that dropped, the hairs on my neck stood on end, the sense of foreboding was almost overwhelming. Barely a few minutes passed outside the protective bubble when an ear-splitting scream tore through the night sky. Instinctively I dropped to the ground, burrowing into whatever scrub I could find and willing the shadows to conceal me. The moon was still almost full but there was at least some light cloud cover to dull its searchlight glow. A shadow passed over me from above and I risked exposure to quickly twist my head up, scanning the night sky. Whatever it was had passed overhead and let out another piercing screech from a few hundred yards to the south. Nonetheless, I let a full ten minutes of silence pass before I dared move again.

What was I doing? Was this a fool's errand from which I would never return? The safety of the village, the friendliness of the Saloroc, the relative ease with which my new comrades had helped to defeat the Goblins - had the events of the last couple of days so dulled my sense of self-preservation that I was already taking stupid risks? No, surely I had already survived far worse than whatever airborne terror stalked the skies of this little island.

My mind set and nerves steeled, I set off cautiously, once again tracking to the south-west. Knowing how far I had to travel if I was to learn anything meaningful, I purposefully abandoned stealth in favour of speed. Still taking advantage of whatever natural cover the open forest offered, I exploited the moonlight to make good speed, always ready to dive for cover at the first hint of danger.

Half an hour passed without incident and I knew I must be getting close to the point where they had crossed over into the Dark Forest. A hard to identify sound from the forest floor ahead heightened my senses and I dropped immediately into cover. Advancing slowly, staying hidden as best I could, I crept forward to the edge of a small clearing, in the centre of which a monstrous bat, fully twice my size, was bathed in the eerie light of the moon. The creature's head snapped up almost immediately, staring directly at me! Once again, it silenced the forest with an awful screeching cry, leaping into the night sky as it did so. I fell back into cover, more grateful than ever for the overhead protection of the trees. Apparently the hellish nightmares weren't limited to the Dark Forest. Was no part of this cursed island safe? Is this the reason that Father Melak built his church here, or could his church be attracting the evil? Was this reconnaissance turning into a suicide? Should I just head back to the village and tell the others that they should get as far away from here as possible? But what of my people and the justice they deserved? After so many months, had we finally found the source of the evil that had driven the goblins to attack? Was I really going to abandon the fight now that we were finally getting close to the enemy?

Once more calming my nerves, I moved on, skirting the now-empty clearing to keep the trees between me and whatever terrors were crossing the night sky above. I'd only traveled another hundred paces or so when all light and noise disappeared as I crossed the transition into the Dark Forest, this time without the warning of seeing tracks abruptly ending. I stood frozen in place for a few seconds before survival instincts took over and I tumbled backwards, more grateful than ever to see the moonlight filtering through the canopy. Was there no moon over the Dark Forest, or was the canopy and cloud cover thicker in there than on this side of the divide? No matter, I had come here with a plan and I set to it with hardened resolve.

Reaching out my left hand cautiously to the front, I found the exact spot at which my own arm disappeared from view as it crossed the curtain between the island and the Dark Forest. Smiling grimly, I realised that it would be easy now to track the extent of the barrier. Setting off more to the West, towards the coast that I knew to be only a few miles away, I used my disappearing hand to monitor the barrier. At least half an hour passed this way, before the barrier started to angle more towards the south-west again. Alone in the dark on this island of monsters, I started to imagine what other horrors I might encounter, more goblins, man-eating spiders, wild dogs, even the shadowy wraith that had brought death without end to his people? Once more I questioned my own sanity. What was I doing out here alone while my new allies slept soundly in the safety of the village? Why hadn't I brought them with me? Why was I scouting at night when this place had seemed too dangerous to proceed during the day, with friends? No matter - I was here for my people. If I died seeking vengeance then that would be an honourable death at least, and maybe when my soul returned to Karmana I would find peace again. Regardless, I couldn't shake the image of some hidden horror snatching at his hand each time I used it to test that the strange divide between worlds was still there. Scouting around the forest floor I found a stout branch, almost as tall as myself. Using that in place of my arm, I could easily track where it disappeared behind the veil with no fear of losing a limb to the creatures beyond. In this way, I tracked the divide as it ran due south, no more than half a mile from the western shore of the island. I guessed that I had been gone four hours by the time I reached the southern tip of the island and the barrier tracked to the south-east and then east. It was now clear that whatever this phenomenon was, it was enclosing something inside a very rough circle, concealing it from the world beyond.

I knew I would have to turn back soon, but I allowed himself another mile of eastward travel to confirm my theory as best I could. It was tempting to follow the barrier all the way round, but I didn't know how long that would take or what else I might encounter. Finally, after what I guessed must be almost five hours since leaving the village, I reached a small stream flowing from beyond the divide and heading out to sea. Taking that as my cue, I realised that I had to head back to the village if I was to get back before the others were awake. Before leaving, though, I crouched low and stepped through the barrier once more.

Rather than the Dark Forest I had been expecting, I had an uninterrupted view of a two-storey stone-built house atop a smooth hill, no more than one hundred feet in height. The hill was clear of anything more than thorn bushes and long grass but it was surrounded on three sides by the same evil forest. Only the southern approach, facing out to sea, was unimpeded. I was too far away to see any real detail, but the building looked mostly intact with no visible lights, inside or out. The sky above was heavily overcast and if the moon was even still there, I certainly couldn't see it. Even without the oppressive darkness and the threat of the forest, the house radiated evil and I felt a chill to my core. If the enemy we sought was anywhere on this forsaken island, then it was here for sure. As I turned to leave, my foot caught against a sharp edge in the undergrowth. Reaching down to inspect the obstruction, I realised that it was a long-since discarded shield. Dragging it with me, I stepped back through the divide, into the relative brightness of the moonlight beyond. The straps were gone and the wood was rotten but the embossed metal in the shape of a dragon was still discernible, even in this poor light.

I had seen enough, I knew that I had to tell the others of my discoveries. Moving cautiously once more and staying close to the coast, away from the Dark Forest, I retraced my steps back to the village. Although I made it back before sunrise, the eastern horizon was already growing lighter as I went up to the temple doors.

House on the Hill

I was tired and rather clumsy by this stage, and Falcor jolted awake as I entered the temple. He instinctively reached for his sword, rising to his feet, and his armour materialised on him so that he was ready for battle - if I wasn't so tired I would have remarked on something so astonishing. As it was I could barely mutter a greeting. Arad joined us just a moment later, the temple having alerted him in some way. Falcor of course asked where I had been, as it was clear I had not just awoken. I explained what I had done, what I had found, and encouraged them to return with me to the house that I saw - after I got my head down for a bit.

I used Arad's new bed chamber to get some much needed rest without being disturbed. Meanwhile Falcor and Arad did some weapons training outside by the obelisk. As Falcor was training and remembering his meeting with M'laada, a symbol appeared on the obelisk, matching a symbol on Arad's prayer book, but at a different angle. An arc with a straight line touching the centre point at a perpendicular to the radius... was this the mark of the creator god?

Falcor believed (now at least) that the Creator God was the first and that the other gods came afterwards. Karmana was the only one gifted with the ability to create life, which is why she was so closely linked to the forge of life.

After training, Arad called the village to breakfast, served to all as usual, but some kept back for me thankfully. Falcor even sat with the other humans and took breakfast ritually with them, which made a good impression. When everyone else was ready they woke me, and I quickly ate before we left for the evil house to the south.

Arad went ahead this time, with me on Falcor's shoulders following (it was faster that way and we had a fair bit of ground to cover). We tracked around the circle of death, headed to the south coast, and this time stayed away from the barrier itself, following the coastline instead. Just as we turned towards the east on the south coast, not all that far from our destination, we noticed about 200 yards to our left some goblins stepped out from invisible barrier.