Journal - The Hunt for Kellerot

Lizardfolk Island

There was a rough path leading up to the ruined tower, infrequently used but I could see that it had been used recently. A group had gone up the hill and then returned dragging something, which was presumably me as that's where I had awoken. We could just, if we strained to see, make out the tip of an obelisk near to the tower above us. That would make sense if I was transported there by Karmana. We decided to head up towards this area, just to our east we reckoned.

Falcor led the way with Arad following and then I was behind. They were still wary, with bows drawn, but I just looked around, enjoying the walk. There was a sail almost on the horizon to the west, and a fishing boat to the south of where we were, but no immediate sign of trouble. It was dry and warm and we reached the area unopposed. What was left of the tower looked like Custor's, but it was significantly damaged (damage that looked to have occurred a long time ago). About half had collapsed between the north west and south east with only the south west quarter at full height still. There was no obvious signs of life as we approached. It did smell, we noticed as we neared, very strongly of bat guano.

The obelisk looked as if it had thrust out from the earth very recently, judging by the disturbed soil, and was a green quartz. Falcor walked up and touched the obelisk and the same "see-saw" symbol appeared as it had on the obelisk in the village. He invited me to try the same, not knowing that I was itching to try to commune with Karmana again, having felt her loving embrace once before. The obelisk was my best chance of doing so, and I knelt down to touch the earth before moving my hands onto the obelisk, reaching out with my mind for the thought, or perhaps the emotion, of Karmana. Almost at once I was overwhelmed once more with energy and love, having succeeded in connecting directly with her, it was like a rapturous joy.

I immediately pledged myself to her service and vowed to heal the damage done to her. I knew deep down that such an immense task was a lifetime commitment that might never be achieved, but at that moment I didn't care about difficulty or consequences; anything seemed possible. I, for a moment, thought that I should perhaps be worried about how my friends were reacting to my "absence", but the thought passed fleetingly as the energy flowed through me, and I tried to control it so that I was not overwhelmed in the way that I had been before.

I had been right about my friends, though, as they had seen my body collapse and were trying to revive me without success. I seemed to be staring into space blissfully and was completely unresponsive, smiling. Despite their efforts it was rather my own reluctant return to reality that eventually brought me to consciousness, having dragged my mind back to the here and now. Apparently a symbol had appeared while I was out, similar to Falcor's and also like the one on Arad's prayer book, but again at a different angle. I was more concerned with looking around me, finding that I was connected to Karmana (both the world and the Goddess) in a way that I had not been before. The world seemed more vibrant and alive, and I instinctively knew that I could connect with it and encourage it to change with me, although only in a limited way, after all... we were all part of Karmana and all connected.

Falcor snapped me out of my reverie with a warning - he had a sense that we were being watched, which he shared with Arad. Arad confirmed it - we were being scryed by someone or something! Suddenly a window in the world opened, unnaturally this time, with a small room visible on the other side that was filled with legionnaires. They wore a bull symbol on their shield and tunics, and quickly started charging through towards us. It was clear why when the portal promptly closed behind them, but we were not sure (yet) whether they were a threat to us.

Falcor stepped forward and shouted "Halt!" intending to speak with them. I stepped to the side, just behind him, wary of their intentions but not wanting to provoke a fight. Arad had his bow notched, trained on the leader. They moved into a defensive formation, in a line facing us, close together with shields and spears to the fore. Falcor stepped forward again, shouting: "State your business here"!

They kept advancing, although at a jog rather than a charge, but did not respond to Falcor at all. Still wary, but not wanting to allow them to engage us, I called for the first time on Karmana, reaching out to the plants all around us and focusing on their advance, asking that Karmana held them back in order to avoid bloodshed. It seemed natural, even though it seems strange to write about it now, that the plants came to life at their feet and grasped at them, trying to hold them in place. A couple were completely held, and even the others that were able to press on were slowed. No harm was done to them, though.

I moved forward to join Falcor, who was shouting: "We mean you no harm, put down your weapons." Arad flanked them, keeping his bow trained and splitting their attention. I flanked the other way as they struggled to break free into clear ground. Two reached the edge and immediately charged straight at Falcor. Arad managed to put an arrow into the chest of one as he ran forward, slowing him slightly and giving Falcor a target. Sure enough, Falcor danced to his right, slipping his dagger in to the side of the wounded man's shield and finishing him off. The spear of the other attacker scraped off his armour, but Falcor spun inside its reach and drove his sword into the thigh of the other one. The wounded man lost his balance and had to ground his shield to avoid falling, but that left him open to another arrow from Arad, which found its mark and he fell without even shouting out.

Two more broke free to attack Falcor again, who again found a weak spot with his dagger. I sprinted forward to join him, shouting at the foe to "stop fighting you fools". They didn't of course, seemingly fanatics of some kind, and Falcor was stabbed for the first time. He used the opening to attack rather than pulling back, cutting one deeply who then collapsed spurting blood. Arad charged forward, looking to tackle the other attacker to the ground, and managed to knock him to all fours and grapple him, forcing him to drop his spear.

Arad kept him pinned as Falcor tied him up. I tried to ask why they were attacking us, but instead he just tried to bite me. I moved to headbutt him in return, but he twisted his neck to the side, seeing what I was trying to do. Sneaky bastard! Despite their belligerence we still wanted to give them the chance to surrender, so we surrounded the writhing plants and stood ready, knowing that it would not last forever. Falcor told them to surrender and lower their weapons as soon as they were free, but when the plants subsided another portal appeared and the last two jumped through, back from whence they came presumably. We were left with just the one prisoner, still unable to move.

He stubbornly refused to respond to any questions we asked, so we stripped him of armour and collected weapons from him and the fallen, but did warn him that his life was in danger if he stayed due to the other occupants of the island that would be less understanding. Falcor told him that he "must go if you can". After this we released him and let him run off behind the tower, not caring to follow him. Instead we slowly make our way around the tower to see what was there, if anything.

Arad called on the Creator to heal Falcor and also his own wounds, then he and I split off to scout the tower quietly while Falcor covered us from behind. As we got really close the stink became really rancid. The tower had obviously fallen to ruin a long time ago, as large parts of the fallen masonry were covered in grass. There was guano piled on every layer of what was left, and the ground floor area was a thick, solid layer of guano. It was so smelly it's impossible really to describe in words.

Arad wanted to poke around in the shit in case there was a hidden trapdoor like in Custor's tower. I baulked at this... not very keen at all! I found myself dry retching as I got really close, but Arad went forward with a borrowed iron pot from Falcor, actually digging in the shit. It was disgusting to watch, let alone do it, and eventually he was overcome and starts heaving his guts up, unable to move. I ran in, intending to get him out, but I was overcome as well and end up puking next to him! Falcor, thankfully, was able to rescue us both, resisting the stink somehow as he made the journey twice. As soon as I could I moved to get farther back, trying to get the stink out of my nose without much success.

Arad had an idea to burn the guano off, and I gave up an oil flask that they threw into the shit and then we retreated to where Arad could loose a flaming arrow into it. The fire was slow to start, but as it built the heat was impressive. As we waited for the flames to grow I followed the tracks of the legionnaire to see where he had headed... but found that he had thrown himself to his death off the cliffs behind the tower! A real fanatic, I don't think I will ever understand humans.

I have been remiss because I have forgotten to mention one other thing. I had noticed a group making their way up towards the tower from the shoreline to our west, where the Elvramar we had subdued had headed toward. They were approaching slowly, so we were not concerned about their approach, and we even hoped that they might be... well, at least neutral and willing to talk. That's not to say that we wouldn't take precautions. I used my cloak, a gift from Karmana, to hide myself to one side as Falcor stood and awaited their arrival, with Arad covering him from further back.

Falcor shouted at them as soon as they were in earshot to wait if they meant to be friendly. Instead they loosed arrows, so I guess not, thankfully the first volley was well wide of the mark. Arad had been waiting and returned fire, hitting one. The second volley was much closer, and in fact Falcor was only saved from damage by the power of a prayer to the Creator from Arad, allowing Falcor to deflect the shot away with a power that guided his arm.

Falcor now returned the fire, hitting and killing the one that Arad had hurt. Realising that they were losing the battle of archers, some of the lizards started running forward, whilst others stayed back to harass with more arrows, one clipping Arad and drawing blood. He was put off his first shot as a result, but the second found its mark in one of the closer creatures. Falcor was also clipped by an arrow, whilst deflecting another (they seemed to have got their range now). He also returned fire, again putting down one of the foe.

As one got close to engaging Falcor, I sprang up and attacked at close quarters, stabbing it with both swords and leaving it barely alive, but the bastard managed to stab me in the side as I pulled my weapons free. Falcor hit another one as Arad sprinted forward to get a better shot at the ones hanging back, killing one of them. I paused, seeing how badly the lizard I had stabbed was bleeding, calling out to him in Karmana and Milada's name to stop fighting even as he stabbed me again, although his strength was fading.

Arad had a better chance to hit his targets, but their odds were improved too and he was hit with two arrows in quick succession, putting him off his own aim. Falcor was backing him up, though, and landed another hit. Their leader decided that they were losing the fight, which they were, and turned to run! Arad managed to recover enough to let another arrow fly true, felling one of his attackers. Falcor finished off the last archer with two accurate shots, leaving just the one I was trying to keep alive.

He helped his situation somewhat by deciding that he was outclassed, instead turning to run. I tried to stop him but couldn't quite catch a grip on his smooth scales and he started to outpace me. Falcor was distracted, running after the leader despite the head start it had, but Arad ran towards me, looking to intercept the foe. Just as he was about to tackle the creature, the lizard collapsed to the floor, too weak and exhausted to continue, but this caused Arad to misjudge his grapple and he ended up almost falling forwards, stopping himself just in time. I walked up as Arad grabbed it and pinned it to the floor, but it had lost too much blood and it died in his grip. I berated him a little for killing our prisoner, but it wasn't really his fault, and we had to move quickly if we were to catch Falcor.

I was going to ask after his wounds, having seen the arrows strike him, but the Creator had protected him and he looked remarkably hale considering. Falcor was actually waiting for us, having given up his pursuit, so we slowed our pace and regrouped to check our wounds before continuing down the ridge. I wanted to treat some of my wounds, and I asked if Arad would allow me to attempt to reach out to Karmana, something I had not done before, to see if I could draw on the power around us. I explained that I felt more connected with her than ever before after communing with her, both at the dragons' graveyard and at the obelisk by the tower. Arad and Falcor both said that they were willing to wait and see what happened, so I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind to the life around me, drawing on it to sustain me. I felt the power flowing into me from the grass and shrubs around us, and my wounds were closed... not completely, but enough to heal the worst and sustain me.

I also sensed the connection between Arad and Karmana, despite his new faith for the Creator, and Falcor was positively glowing with power... although I could not touch it in the same way as the other life around me. After a moment I withdrew my mind and opened my eyes to find that both my friends were regarding me with renewed interest. Falcor said that he had blocked me deliberately, and that I had drawn power from our surroundings in a similar way to Custor when Falcor had revived him. Arad referred to "druids" having similar powers, although the word meant nothing to me. He explained that they had a special bond with nature, and that they drew energy from the plants of his home forest, which did sound like my new bond with Karmana.

At any rate, we carried on jogging down the path, following the fresh tracks towards the shore below. As we passed the hole that Hope had emerged from (followed by FalcorDrak) we saw that the opening had closed and was solid stone, just a bare patch of rock without vegetation - like the others had described the pool of water being covered by stone. We carried on towards the coast, though, not wanting to be distracted at this stage.

Eventually the path reached a rough sand and stone beach, about a hundred yards deep to the waterline. As Arad, who was ahead as usual, turned to wave us forward he spotted a concealed wooden door in the side of the incline leading down to the beach. He held his hand up to stop us and approached door quietly, finding a circle of dried blood on it - an echo of those we had seen before and a clear mark of evil intent. He walked back to join us, describing what he had found. As we were likely to be heading into danger, I decided to treat Arad's wounds, minor as they were, so that he might save his more powerful prayers for any battles ahead. He knelt to accept Karmana's energy, something he was familiar with from his past, and Falcor noted that the transfer did affect the plants around me.

We approached the door, and I took a moment to check for traps, not finding anything. Arad set light to a torch, passing it to Falcor in case it was dark inside. They both readied bows as I stepped up and swung the door open before them. A relatively crude tunnel of packed soil was revealed, with a dusty floor of rock. Torches along the walls provided some light, and revealed that there was a joining tunnel to the right about twenty feet in, and that the tunnel ended in a T-junction further on. As I stepped inside I heard some metallic noises coming from the right-hand opening, presumably guards of some kind, and a moment later a reptile head peered around the corner.

I rolled forward and stepped to the side, ready to fight but allowing my friends a line of sight to the corner. I could see more lizards in a small room beyond a short section of tunnel, and tried to send a mental image to the others so they knew what to expect. Arad made a corking shot, sticking an arrow into the side of the closest lizard creature's exposed head. It was swinging a morning star at me, and I took the blow on my shoulder, rolling inside its guard to stab up into its throat to finish it off.

There were four more of the creatures, I could see now, and Arad used his mind to tell me that he would engage the nearest foe, so I deliberately kept to my left. Despite this plan, Falcor came crashing through and into the creature now to my right, using his momentum to thrust a dagger into him and then finishing him with a powerful swipe of his sword. I engaged the next one, scraping with my short sword (only just drawing blood) but then following up with two sword blows before it could react, cutting it down.

The other creatures had pressed their attack, so we were still in the narrow corridor, and Falcor swung to cut deeply into his new opponent, although he was hit by its morning star swing in return. It was at that point that a door beyond the small guardroom swung open and more foes poured through, making the situation more perilous. Arad helped by cutting down the lizard that Falcor had injured; I stabbed the last of the original group as Falcor stepped beside it and ran it through... now for the next lot!

I was able to land one good blow before Falcor sent a mental warning to us to stay out of the room, using the power of his mind to assail the group of lizard folk. Most of them sank to the floor, looking completely detached from what was going on around them, but Falcor wasn't finished. He conjured a spray of colourful rays that filled the small room, and four of the creature were rendered unconscious. There were only a couple left that seemed able to continue the fight. Impressive!

Arad sprints forward, reaching a foe in the corridor beyond the room, stabbing him with short sword and following up with sword, cutting him down.

Falcor indicates one that we should tie up, using Arad's rope, but others are basically brainless. We have cleared the guardroom. The room that Arad reached is like a barracks, with crude mattresses and wooden chests, table & benches.

Door opposite and corridor to our left. Note that stones are behind layered mud, and in the larger room we scrape away bits and eventually find some words on wall opposite where we entered. Like rubies traced in a manner of ink in the glassy rock surface.

Says (Humility = Red):

Humbly he came Leading only to serve But drawn to disorder His pride destroyed all

Check corridor, but then head to door. Corridor to T-junction, door on right. I go to check it, Falcor follows, closing door behind him. Small room behind door, table, bed, jug and brass bound wooden chest.

Chip away at walls. Far left side find some more script, this time in yellow diamond (Wisdom = Yellow):

The Wisest sought service In the name of false gods Now confusion his master He seeks souls for the dead

Arad speaks the names, denouncing the false Gods, then there was a flash of power in our minds and he was gone. I try the same but nothing happened. Perhaps we each need to find our own path?

Head back to guardroom to check walls. Nothing. Continue back towards entrance and there is a blinding white light and Arad steps through in front of us. He appears to have been away for weeks.