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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eccles" data-source="post: 756704" data-attributes="member: 5675">Miles' JournalPart 7-----------Nightal 16th - I was actually surprised to wake up this morning, but grateful to do so, though my wounds remain grievous. We are camped in a giant nest in the caldera of this second mountain, a dormant volcano by the looks of things. In the bottom of the caldera is a large lake with an island in the middle of it that has a tall tower upon it. The entire shore of the lake is taken up by a ramshackle village, which looks to be inhabited by a very eclectic mix of creatures, including a thirty-foot giant! We put it to a vote, and then decided to stay here for a day more, before we approach the village. Nightal 17th - I spotted a man trying to look through our packs this morning as I was on watch, who I stopped and who then introduced himself as Paul Goldson. He seemed interested in barter, it seems that this is the villages currency. The village is simply called The Edge, and Titan Lord Dane rules it, the gigantic figure we spied yesterday. Furthermore it would seem that death and injury are at best temporary here, though I suspect that effect is not immediate upon arrival. We learned that the tree we are seeking lies in the tower on the island, but it would seem that no one has ever gone there, and certainly never returned. I bartered away a few gold pieces and my detect thoughts potion for a roof over my head for several days should I need it, and three potions of healing. I headed to Corliss Maltine’s tent to rest and continue my recovery from the wounds I have suffered of late. When I woke up a few hours later, Rand presented me with a shortsword made from a giant tooth. It had been taken from the wyvern nest and he had identified it as magical, for which I am grateful. It also talks! Its name (or at least what it calls itself) is: The magnificent Slayer of Beasts, tooth of the dragon. We agreed on Slayer as a good name for it. Rand used his magic to enlarge and flavour the fish a strange tiefling fisherman had caught on the lake to entice him to row us across to the island on his raft, which he duly did. The tower had a large door at the base, and a spiral staircase around the outside leading up to the roof, where many gargoyles were flapping about. The doors were warded by a numeric puzzle that I soon solved, with a bit of help from Stedd & Pharaxes, the doors then opening into a large blue room. This room had a single door leading elsewhere, which was warded by a shape puzzle that we solved between us. This produced a scroll with a riddle on it; I got a shock from a trap for a poorly though out wrong answer. We proceeded onwards, and again another puzzle. To cut a long story short each room presented us with a shape puzzle, placing the correct object into the puzzle (which involved battling the islands gargoyles) produced a scroll, solving the riddle on the scroll would then open the door and we could continue onwards, every room followed this same pattern. We got stuck on the third riddle though and decided to rest and sleep on the problem as it baffled all of us. Nightal 18th - The tower’s puzzles reset in the night, we were easily able to get through them to reach the point at which we were stumped yesterday. We decided to head to The Edge and do some trading (and get some healing), before continuing. Myself and Rand paid a fair sum (they use money as food here, or at least some of the residents do, including the earth genasi priest we went to), to get my wound patched back up, as I have been in a lot of pain from my numerous injuries these past few days, and been considerably less useful to the group than I might otherwise have been. We then headed back to the tower and made further headway through the many puzzles and riddles until eventually we arrived in a large underground cavern, dominated by a huge tree in the centre of it. Much of this turned out to be an illusion though, as Stedd found out. The elaborate set of illusions disguised a marble stepped dais amidst a vast pool of boiling mud. We made our way across the only safe path through the mud, helping each other, but when a pair of salamanders ambushed us, I concerned myself with my own survival and dropped Khondar, running headlong for the tree (which turned out to be another illusion, it was really a crystal on a pedestal, seems I keep running into those!), and upon touching the crystal I was granted a wish. I made my choice to go home and vanished from the chamber, arriving back at my family’s estate in the hills southwest of Dagger Falls. I am home, back on Toril at long last. There is no sign of my companions, I do not know if they made it out of that chamber alive or not, but I assume if they chose as I did, then they will end up back at their old homes too, many days travel away from me. I immediately pulled up my scarf and my hood and headed back towards Dagger Falls. The estate I arrived at has not been my home in many years, and I have no wish to linger there. I am needed elsewhere I think. Not long after I started walking I became aware of a humanoid winged figure shape following me at speed. Figuring whatever it was to be hostile, and unable to outrun it on the ground, I took advantage of a nearby copse of trees, ducking into the cover they provided and slipping into the shadows under the canopy. The creature then landed and stomped into the undergrowth after me, growling boasts about how it would take my head to its slumbering master. So nice to have to deal with foes with loose tongues. I repaid him for his helpful information with a swift death, stepping out of the shadows in a blind spot to his left and running him through twice with Slayer before he even got a chance to put so much as a scratch on me. Searching the body I took a wand of some sort from his corpse and rolled him over so I could get a good look at my foe. Seems he was some sort of dragon-man. I've never seen the like before, possibly some servant created by Gran'rath in his own image. with that business attended to I continued on my way, eschewing resting for the night, intent on reaching Dagger Falls as soon as possible. Nightal 19th - Arrived back in Dagger Falls late this evening and reported to Respen who handed over a small sack of my back pay for the past couple months. I explained where we had been and that I returned alone. Both of us agreed that it is unlikely that the others did not also find a way home, and I expect they will show up in short order, this town being a likely rallying point for them. That done I headed to our usual tavern and paid for the works, a good room with clean sheets on the bed, a bath, and the best food and wine, served by the prettiest barmaid in the building. Since I’ve just been through all kinds of hell short of going to the nine hells themselves, I figured that since I could afford the good life, I'd live it for a few days at least. Nightal 20th to 22nd - Stayed at the tavern, while I waited patiently for the rest of the Crusaders to turn up, as I am quite confident that they will appear sooner or later, and my money is firmly on sooner. Assuming that the crystal returned them also to their homes, they would have appeared elsewhere in Daggerdale or nearby... well all except Pharaxes who might well have ended up back in Chessenta for all I know. Nightal 23rd - Sure enough, just after lunch, Rand and Stedd walked into the tavern. It seems that they did indeed arrive back at their homes in Clearwater and the Monastery, or rather what is left of them after Gran'rath took out his rage at us (and the monks) escaping him. The Monastery is nothing more than a ruin now, and while it took some damage, the village of Clearwater survived for the most part, only is now under the thrall of the vampire lord that escaped from the monks graveyard a while ago. In late evening we were joined by Khondar and surprisingly Pharaxes who had arrived back in the mountains at some old dwarf hold (doubtless the lost Rudenheim clanhold) and had journeyed back through the wilderness. Khondar regaled us with the brutal (and thankfully short) account of him slaying an Ettin single-handed whose campsite he encountered on the way back to Dagger Falls. Not long after we were approached by a monk/priest of Ilmater, who asked to join our group. After some discussion it was decided to allow him into our ranks. His name is Yvgeny and he hails originally from far off (and very cold) Damara. Once he had bathed, Khondar related that Braddoc chose to stay in that other realm, and he tasked Khondar to reclaim the clan’s old stronghold, appointing him as his heir. This surprised me, I had no idea Braddoc was the Rudenheim king in exile, I have been travelling with royalty it seems. I wish him well; Khondar’s last sight of him was him charging back into the cavern to battle the salamanders, screaming blue murder as only a psychotic dwarf can. I will miss him in any battles I should have to fight. We are far from being the same group that arrived in that savage land, it has taken a heavy toll on our membership. Indeed of those Jared wrote about at the start of this groups history, only Stedd & Rand remain now. A humbling thought.</blockquote>

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