Forum

[Morrow]

The following is translated from the Vallosan.

From the Journal of K. Garnham Apprentice Seeker

The search for Vanthus took several interesting turns.

I received confirmation from R. that the elder Vanderborens were Seekers. Apparently children of members aren't offered membership until the children reach the age of twenty-three. I'll have to remember that if I ever have kids.

The lead on Vanthus' lover in the Azure district lead us to a name and an occupation, but little else. Her name is Brissa and she's an artist. Of course the man who described her as such used the word "artist" in the way most people say "whore." Elyosha and I played man and wife for a few hours looking for anyone who had any of Brissa's work to sell. No dice.

We did find out that Vanthus was seen with a known smuggler named Penkus in Shadowshore. Apparently whatever they were doing involved them doing something to irritate the owner of "It Still Floats!" a used boat shop.

We continued to search for shreds of information when we were approached by a shabby man claiming to know where Vanthus was hiding. He generously offered to tell us for 5 gold. We greased his already greasy palms and he said that Vanthus was holding up in the old smuggler's tunnels on Parrot's Island and for an additional 5 gold he would take us to them. My brother put the fear of Dexter into the enterprising informant and we soon found ourselves on Parrot Island, He led us to the opening of a series of tunnels, cleverly concealed beneath a large rock.

Elyosha's wolf confirmed that Vanthus had passed that way recently. We left the wolf on guard and proceeded down. We had gotten to the first of a series of doors when we heard a commotion coming from above. Racing back we heard the sounds of a struggle and found the rope had been severed. Elyosha yelled orders to her wolf while Dexter and I climbed up the back-up rope that we had secured before going down. We hadn't gotten too far up when the corpse of our informant came hurtling down on us.

I, of course, ended up on the very bottom of the pile.

We started up the rope a second time. Before we reached the top we heard "this'll teach you to mess around with my sister, say hello to Penkus' ghost for me" or similar, just before the rock was returned to block our escape.

Maggie climbed up to help shift the rock, but we ended up taking another tumble. As we were picking ourselves up Dexter gave Maggie a slap on the ass and she responded favorably. Overwhelmed at the possibilities I throw up my hands and hope they enjoy themselves.

We proceeded to make our way through the tunnels which were, of course, crawling with zombies. Not just any zombies, but zombies with gigantic mouths who grabbed you and pulled you close for a little nibble of flesh.

The tunnels were flooded in parts. At one point we came across a pool with a (nonmoving) corpse floating on top. We fished it out of the water and were searching it when we were attacked by several very large crabs. We won the battle and as reward had both the fine silver dagger that lay at the bottom of the pool and fresh crab meat. I don't think there is anything more satisfying than sinking your teeth into the flesh of some critter that had, minutes before, tried to eat you; relishing the sweet flesh as it glides over the pallet and going in for another bite.

We spent the night sealed up in one of the rooms to give ourselves time to rest and heal.
The next morning we returned to the tunnels to find more zombies and a zombie priest of some sort. It was a hard fight, but we won again.

The zombie priest had, apparently, brought his remaining forces with him; we encountered nothing else.

We knew there was sea access in some of the flooded areas so Dexter swam out and did recon while tethered to a mooring rope. He found a promising spot and we all swam for it.
At the other end we discovered Penkus' disease-bloated corpse. The shade of the old bastard told us that Vanthus had gotten him out of the way to take his place beside the Lady of Dragons. He also told us where to find Vanthus.

Elyosha's Elven eyes found a secret door that led to a small fortune in coin, gems and magic items.

Dexter performed another recon and discovered the path that led to open sea. After some rest and the consumption of swimming elixirs we made it back.

Now we have to plan our confrontation with Vanthus.