Session 10 – Wednesday, February 20, 2002.
11 Tarsakh
We left for Dagger Falls today.
24 Tarsakh
Late in the afternoon we arrived at a junction of the Northride. Straight North runs the Tethyamar Trail, a much less well kept trail but it wel lead us directly to Daggerdale. At the junction is also a shrine to Torm. It is a well maintained granite building and we took use of the opportunity to sleep with a roof over our heads. We were the only travellers there but it looks like travellers sleep there almost every night. I’ll leave a small offering before we move on tomorrow morning.
27 Tarsakh
Disaster! The most terrible thing has happened. I can still hardly believe what befell us last night. My heart starts pounding every time I think of it and I start shaking uncontrollably. Why did this have to happen? Why did they have to die?
I’ll start at the beginning. Yesterday night, we are sitting around our campfire and Varsk hears something. He says in Illuskan: ‘Something is in the bushes, I’ll charge it.’ He does what he says and because I’m the only one who understood what he says I’m right behind him. I hear Borric behind me following us. Varsk moves at that enormously quick pace of his and he disappears into the bushes. When I see him again he is in combat with two creatures that are later identified as bugbears. After the first swing from Varsk the bugbears seem to have lost their interest in prolonging the fight and they run away. Varsk runs after them and after a short while he returns to the camp and tells us he has heard at least fifteen more creatures and someone in a sibilant voice commanding them.
There is some discussion whether we should stay or fight and in the end it is decided that we will move a hundred feet away from our campfire and snipe the bugbears when a group of them are visible. We spread out somewhat so as to have a larger kill zone and to defend against being flanked. After a short while we see two bugbears walking to the fire. Fortunately everyone holds his shot until more targets present themselves. When a larger group appears Celedor casts his sleep spell but only one bugbear falls to the ground. The rest of us open fire and one or two bugbears fall to the ground. Then suddenly in the light appears a tall creature with tendrils where his mouth should have been. We all recognise the creature, it’s a mindflayer! No one needs to say anything; we all start firing at the horrible creature. Several arrows hit their mark but the mindflayer swiftly moves out of the light.
The other bugbears meanwhile have close quickly with us and we can hear more approaching from the sides. Melee ensues and the large number of bugbears starts to overwhelm us. Three bugbears attack me and two of them hit squarely in the ribs with their morningstars. I stumble away and Borric takes my place. Not much later he too is hit by the bugbears, they hit him with three sickening crunches and Borric falls to the ground. I can see the light leaving his eyes before his body hits the hard packed earth. There is nothing to be done, the plucky dwarf is dead. We may not have been the best of friends but his death still makes me feel terrible.
Cadrach sees how things are going wrong, he casts a spell and a large cloud of fog covers the battlefield. I’m heavily wounded and I’m afraid to stumble upon a group of bugbears so I quickly move south and leave the cloud. Once outside I see the mindflayer has returned, accompanied by six or so bugbears. I don’t know how quick I can run around the fog to stay out of his sight. No one follows so I keep watch on the cloud, readying my bow to shoot the first bugbear that comes into view.
I then hear Varsk’s battle cry and not much later a sickening slurping sound. Marshalling all my courage I move back around the fog, only to see Varsk’s lifeless body being held by the mindflayer, the creature’s tendrils holding the barbarians head and moving inside. The brave Varsk has apparently tried to charge the mindflayer and now his brains are being sucked out by the abomination! I nearly am violently ill at the sight of it. Then Calim and Cadrach come out of the fog and they too charge the mindflayer! I don’t know how, but I think the creature has control of their minds, why would they do this otherwise? Celedor and I start firing arrows at the creature, what else can we do? It is all in vain however. Not much later both the ranger and the priest are dead. One is mauled to the ground by the bugbears and the other is killed by the mindflayer in the same fashion as Varsk was.
I look at Celedor and he looks at me, ‘I meet you at the shrine I yell to him,’ and start running. Over my shoulder I see Celedor cast a spell of invisibility and disappear. That was a day ago and he has still not arrived, I fervently hope the elf wizard is all right.
We should have run away at the first sign of trouble. I have counselled against rash action often enough but being right about it gives me no joy, far from it. I have never know that life could be so fleeting, four friends, for that they were, dead in less than a minute. I hope Celedor arrives soon; nothing could have happened to the invisible wizard, could there? There are a lot of things we need to discuss. I want to get word to the families of the terrible news, they have a right to know what happened to their sons, and they should know they died bravely. They did not run away as I did and they faced death openly and honestly. They are heroes, all of them.
