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The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith
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<blockquote data-quote="Jubilee" data-source="post: 3417930" data-attributes="member: 36594"><p><strong>Journal of Gwaenna Goldenbrown (Session 3-18-07)</strong></p><p></p><p>... We traveled back to Sharn almost instantly by means of a magical key. </p><p>This key took us to a room high in a tower on Argonessen! I was quite </p><p>excited by the prospect, but the others seemed nervous and apprehensive </p><p>about going back there, much less exploring! While Sten and Xil argued </p><p>about a wardrobe and Caelen stalked around like a monster might pop up from </p><p>the stairwell at any moment, I went for one of the four windows on the room </p><p>and looked out over the landscape. It wasn't anything I recognized from my </p><p>studies of the draconic continent, but there were a number of dragons on the </p><p>skies - quite far off, it would seem. I was surprised to see that it was </p><p>sometime in the afternoon here, though it had been the early hours of </p><p>morning when we left the crypt.</p><p></p><p>I longed to go find MY Dragon, and ask him more questions, though I knew </p><p>that would ultimately be fruitless. I had asked questions before and he </p><p>hadn't answered them. I think I have to do something spectacular before he </p><p>would consider answering any more questions. Still, the chance to explore </p><p>Argonessen was an exciting one - but it was an excitement my new companions </p><p>didn't share.</p><p></p><p>Without my noticing, they had opened a door back to a room in Sharn. </p><p>Artemis called sharply to me that he was going to close the door and wanted </p><p>to know if I was coming. Of course, I ran for the door. I think if I were </p><p>to try to explore alone, the first dragon that saw me might eat me. Maybe </p><p>if I could bring Hunter with me, he would take care of them.</p><p></p><p>I found myself in a fancy room in another tower - this time in Sharn. The </p><p>horses looked quite out of place in the "music room," as Artemis referred to </p><p>it. It looked like quite a lot of useless junk to me, although there were a </p><p>few things that could serve as clubs in a pinch.</p><p></p><p>Everyone was nervous about being noticed by Caibre's watchers, not that I </p><p>blame them, but once they marched the horses out of the house and tied them </p><p>up front, I figured any fool would have noticed and reported it to Caibre. </p><p>If they were lucky, no one was watching the tower. In the interest of any </p><p>secrecy that might remain, they decided that Xil and myself should take care </p><p>of the errands that needed doing. Artemis was keen to leave with the </p><p>sunrise, but I reminded him that both he and I would need at least eight </p><p>hours of sleep to be fully refreshed, and if he wanted me to do errands, I </p><p>wouldn't have time to rest! He agreed to push off our leaving until the </p><p>lunch hour.</p><p></p><p>I set off to find a healer, while Xil went to find a number of supplies </p><p>Artemis wanted. Artemis gave me a large sack of platinum pieces, and I did </p><p>my best not to look surprised. I don't think I have ever seen so much </p><p>platinum in one place! It made me a little nervous to carry so much money </p><p>around, but as it turned out, hardly anyone took notice of me. I don't </p><p>think anyone expects to see a goblin, even one with as noble a bearing and </p><p>as nicely dresseed as I, to have a lot of money.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, the healers at Jorasco took very little notice of me as well. </p><p>They could recommend no traveling healer unless I gave them an exorbitant </p><p>amount of money. I wasn't about to waste someone else's money, so I </p><p>politely declined their assistance. I asked around on my own but had no </p><p>luck.</p><p></p><p>I returned to the house without a healer and returned the money to Artemis. </p><p>Sten kindly offered me the bed in his room, as he had no need to sleep. The </p><p>bed was much too big, and the room too open, for my comfort, so I took the </p><p>blankets into the closet instead. I don't know how those people can sleep </p><p>in a place where any person can sneak up behind them, but having three walls </p><p>at my sides made me feel better.</p><p></p><p>In the morning, I learned that Xil had located a healer - a halfling by the </p><p>name of Robin! Of course, I should have thought of Robin - I know of him </p><p>only by reputation, but it is a well-known reputation. He's supposed to be </p><p>a competent healer - dragonmarked of Jorasco, even - but he's had a run of </p><p>bad luck lately. Seems the last few adventures that've hired him on haven't </p><p>returned, though Robin has returned with a pile of treasure. Well, I can't </p><p>hold a bit of opportunism against him - I can imagine his adventuring </p><p>companions might not have treated him very well - so I went to fetch him </p><p>while other preparations were made.</p><p></p><p>Robin was quite eager to go, either to get out of the city or just for the </p><p>chance to turn his luck around, I don't know. When we returned to the </p><p>house, Artemis inspected his dragonmark and quizzed the halfling on his </p><p>abilities and knowledge. Artemis seemed satisfied, and we set out.</p><p></p><p>I was very excited to be returning to Argonessen! There was another </p><p>argument about searching the room or somesuch, and Caelen was eager to rush </p><p>through and look for enemies. I waited, with some impatience I'll admit, to </p><p>get through the door and peer through another of the windows. The scene was </p><p>much the same, including the position of the sun. I was almost certain it </p><p>was exactly the same time as the day before. Once again, I was rushed out </p><p>of the room and back into the long tunnel that led to the scarab swarms.</p><p></p><p>Artemis told us that there had been someone else through the door. He had </p><p>left a ward of somesort behind that had been triggered. We opened the door </p><p>back to the room of traps, and sure enough, there were several blades </p><p>grinding away at some bodies and the pit was open again. I wanted to go </p><p>search the bodies for anything useful, but Artemis insisted we carry on in </p><p>case there are others about to beat us to their prize. I wasn't as worried; </p><p>since I doubted anyone was interested in what I wanted, but I suppose it's </p><p>possible some fool could damage important information in a hasty search.</p><p></p><p>We got to the room of soldier statues when we heard the sound of falling </p><p>gates, followed by a loud curse. I didn't have to strain my ears much to </p><p>hear the scuttling sound of beetles. Xil and Caelen went for high ground - </p><p>again, I refrained from telling them how futile it was - and Robin asked in </p><p>a loud, strained voice if anyone was going to help them. Artemis told us to </p><p>stay behind, giving himself flight with a scroll.</p><p></p><p>I ran towards the gates, with Artemis right above me in the air. I know it </p><p>was foolish of me to run towards such terrible danger, but I couldn't bear </p><p>the idea of standing here while someone was eaten alive by those bugs. I </p><p>guess I'm a bit soft when it comes down to it. I don't think I'll tell </p><p>Hunter about it. He wouldn't run into danger for a stranger.</p><p></p><p>As it turns out, the stranger was one of the halfling plains riders - he and </p><p>his mount were standing on the ceiling between two fallen gates! I took a </p><p>moment to admire such a well-trained beast. The halfling summoned a large </p><p>sphere of fire, and sent it rolling down the hallway, where the scarabs were </p><p>just appearing around the corner. They scuttled out of the way of the fire, </p><p>and perhaps a few of them were roasted, but it made little difference in the </p><p>strength of it. Artemis similarly threw a fireball down there, with the </p><p>same result. Luckily, I had prepared myself already with a shocking grasp, </p><p>so I could hit them as the swarmed over me - as they shortly did.</p><p></p><p>Artemis actually had the audacity to tell me not to use fire. As if it wasn't </p><p>obvious I had already figured that out on my own!</p><p></p><p>We dispatched the scarabs with a minimum of trouble, at least so I thought, </p><p>until I noticed that someone had singed my kimono with more acid, and Caelen </p><p>appeared to be about to suffer the same fate as Dalia. I called out to </p><p>Robin, who I think had run away when the fight began, and Artemis began </p><p>chanting over his gorgon-headed staff. He finished his infusion, and tapped </p><p>the staff against Caelen's abdomen with another command word. The scarabs </p><p>were forcibly expelled from Caelen's body. I decided to attend to the </p><p>trapped halfling while Robin began attending to their wounds.</p><p></p><p>It took some time, but I managed to lift the bars high enough so that the </p><p>halfling, who had introduced himself as Conshru and his mount was Grix, </p><p>could lift it the rest of the way into the ceiling. I decided we ought to </p><p>take care of both doors while we were at it. However, when I stepped </p><p>through, the gate behind me fell again. I think my heart skipped a few </p><p>beats while I waited to hear if the scarabs were coming for us again, but I </p><p>didn't hear their scuttling, so I began to lift the grate again.</p><p></p><p>Around this time, the others joined us, and with Artemis's help, the doors </p><p>were disabled.</p><p></p><p>Conshru informed us that there were seven in the group that was behind and </p><p>ahead of us. We had only accounted for six so far, and hadn't found a pile </p><p>of clothing that would indicate that someone else had been eaten by scarabs. </p><p>Conshru told us that this was a sacred place, according to his people, and </p><p>that he was here to remove those who had entered without permission. I </p><p>think everyone in our group looked a bit nervous about this, but Artemis </p><p>played it cool enough, and offered to help Conshru find the final </p><p>adventurer.</p><p></p><p>We continued down the hallway without further mishap, although there was a </p><p>length of it with a number of holes in the wall that were probably where the </p><p>scarabs came from. I think we all breathed a bit easier once we were past </p><p>it!</p><p></p><p>We came to an arched entry into a large, square room. There was a winged </p><p>beetle at the apex of the arch, the design much like those on the stone </p><p>soldiers we had found earlier. The room beyond was dark and glittered with </p><p>pinpoints of red light from the ceiling. There were more twelve-foot tall </p><p>statues along either side of the room, and two above a dark, 10-foot wide </p><p>pit. Conshru continued along on the ceiling, while Artemis made a thorough </p><p>search of the chamber. When Conshru crossed the chasm, his magic suddenly </p><p>failed. He fell to one side of the pit and Grix to the other.</p><p></p><p>With remarkably little hesitation, the small dinosaur jumped across the </p><p>chasm to rejoin his master. We started to discuss how the rest of us might </p><p>cross the pit, and I made ready to jump across to hold a rope while the </p><p>others crossed. Conshru backed away from the chasm, to give us room to come </p><p>across, when the sarcophagus on the other side suddenly swung open, and a </p><p>mummy stepped forth!</p><p></p><p>Conshru retreated up the wall while I finished my jump, giving myself a bit </p><p>of a boost to speed before hand, so I could reach the mummy once I got </p><p>there. I swung at him, but my sword was deflected by the pectoral hanging </p><p>from the mummy's neck. In very little time, Caelen was also fighting beside </p><p>me. The mummy retreated from us and lifted his scepter, which shot forth a </p><p>black mix of fire and lightning that arced between us all before grounding </p><p>out in one of the statues above the pit.</p><p></p><p>I charged the mummy, this time attacking with all of my strength and </p><p>expending a fair bit of magic, but I burned him with a combination of fire </p><p>and lightning as well! He practically exploded with the force of my </p><p>strength and magic. I felt triumphant, and smiled at my new companions. </p><p>Everyone but Caelen looked impressed, I thought. Caelen seemed a bit sour, </p><p>and complained that he hadn't had a chance to attack the mummy himself.</p><p></p><p>I don't think any of us was ready to enter the dark, magicless pit, so we </p><p>began to search the room more thoroughly for clues. As we still hadn't </p><p>found the seventh adventurer, Conshru and I returned to the entrance to make </p><p>a more thorough search for bodies, and to strip those left behind of useful </p><p>items. I wondered if the last had hidden himself amongst the statues while </p><p>we passed, and made his retreat after we were gone. I figured the person </p><p>leaving would likely take time to at least strip some of his companions to </p><p>help his escape, so we might glean some clue of they didn't have much of </p><p>value on them.</p><p></p><p>We confirmed there were, indeed, only six bodies (and unfortunately, six </p><p>ghosts!) and found a number of magical and alchemical items in their </p><p>possession. Conshru and I returned to our companions; he elected to take a </p><p>nap while I made a study of the ceiling, which I discovered was decorated </p><p>with some kind of glowing red gems in constellation patterns. I made notes </p><p>of them, but we couldn't find any way to make use of them.</p><p></p><p>Finally, we decided it would be necessary to lower someone into the pit to </p><p>investigate. After some argument, we decided it would be Sten, who was more </p><p>resilient and somewhat resistant to the beetles' effects. It turned out to </p><p>be lucky we had, because when we pulled him up again, he was covered in a </p><p>number of the horrible bugs! They dropped from him as soon as we got him </p><p>over the edge and scuttled back into the darkness.</p><p></p><p>I borrowed Sten's grappling hook and dragged it along the bottom of the pit </p><p>to see if the seventh adventurer had fallen down there and left his clothing </p><p>behind. No luck. Finally, we decided we'd have to investigate the pit trap </p><p>that would open at the edge of the magicless pit. We discovered that it was </p><p>a chute that dropped down below the darkness pit, so after some preparations </p><p>by Artemis, we climbed down and found ourselves in a very wet, skull-piled </p><p>room with a number of niches to either side. There was also a body down </p><p>here - the seventh adventurer.</p><p></p><p>As we tried to determine what had killed him, two more mummies appeared out </p><p>of the first set of niches, attacking Caelen and Xil. A shadowy form came </p><p>rushing out of the darkened end of the room towards me, babbling </p><p>incoherently. A number of our companions were held spellbound by the </p><p>strange voice, while it reached out to me with a cold hand that made me feel </p><p>a bit light headed as it passed through my body. I began to attack it </p><p>vigorously, though my blade passed harmlessly through the incorporeal body </p><p>as often as not. I felt a little mad, I admit, and was almost overcome by a </p><p>fit of giggles when the terribly cold hand passed through me again.</p><p></p><p>Two zombies had joined the fight somehow, before I took care of the black </p><p>shadow, which I caused to explode in a mix of fire and electricity. Xil was </p><p>fighting off one of the mummies, while Sten battled the other. Caelen came </p><p>out of his stupor as the shadow dissipated and ran over to help Xil. </p><p>Conshru was holding off the two zombies with blasts of fire. Still a bit </p><p>light headed, I really would rather have sat down for a rest, but I moved </p><p>forward to help Conshru with the skeletons. In short order, we dispatched </p><p>the rest of them. Xil seemed to have been affected by the mummy's curse, </p><p>something I had heard of but never seen. Blackness was spreading over his </p><p>body, but luckily for him, one of the scrolls Artemis had thought to buy was </p><p>one to break the mummy's curse. Robin had a wand that cured me of my </p><p>light-headedness and Xil of the remaining effects of the curse.</p><p></p><p>We thoroughly searched the room and still couldn't find the dragonshard </p><p>Artemis and his companions were looking for. We made the climb back out of </p><p>the lower chamber and once again looked around the room, trying to decide </p><p>what to do.</p><p></p><p>Sten wondered if we should light the braziers on the other side of the pit, </p><p>and I suggested we try filling the pool between the mummy's coffin and the </p><p>pit with water. Artemis seemed doubtful, but didn't have any better ideas, </p><p>so he agreed. Conshru, Artemis, and myself made our way across, armed with </p><p>water and fire. ...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jubilee, post: 3417930, member: 36594"] [b]Journal of Gwaenna Goldenbrown (Session 3-18-07)[/b] ... We traveled back to Sharn almost instantly by means of a magical key. This key took us to a room high in a tower on Argonessen! I was quite excited by the prospect, but the others seemed nervous and apprehensive about going back there, much less exploring! While Sten and Xil argued about a wardrobe and Caelen stalked around like a monster might pop up from the stairwell at any moment, I went for one of the four windows on the room and looked out over the landscape. It wasn't anything I recognized from my studies of the draconic continent, but there were a number of dragons on the skies - quite far off, it would seem. I was surprised to see that it was sometime in the afternoon here, though it had been the early hours of morning when we left the crypt. I longed to go find MY Dragon, and ask him more questions, though I knew that would ultimately be fruitless. I had asked questions before and he hadn't answered them. I think I have to do something spectacular before he would consider answering any more questions. Still, the chance to explore Argonessen was an exciting one - but it was an excitement my new companions didn't share. Without my noticing, they had opened a door back to a room in Sharn. Artemis called sharply to me that he was going to close the door and wanted to know if I was coming. Of course, I ran for the door. I think if I were to try to explore alone, the first dragon that saw me might eat me. Maybe if I could bring Hunter with me, he would take care of them. I found myself in a fancy room in another tower - this time in Sharn. The horses looked quite out of place in the "music room," as Artemis referred to it. It looked like quite a lot of useless junk to me, although there were a few things that could serve as clubs in a pinch. Everyone was nervous about being noticed by Caibre's watchers, not that I blame them, but once they marched the horses out of the house and tied them up front, I figured any fool would have noticed and reported it to Caibre. If they were lucky, no one was watching the tower. In the interest of any secrecy that might remain, they decided that Xil and myself should take care of the errands that needed doing. Artemis was keen to leave with the sunrise, but I reminded him that both he and I would need at least eight hours of sleep to be fully refreshed, and if he wanted me to do errands, I wouldn't have time to rest! He agreed to push off our leaving until the lunch hour. I set off to find a healer, while Xil went to find a number of supplies Artemis wanted. Artemis gave me a large sack of platinum pieces, and I did my best not to look surprised. I don't think I have ever seen so much platinum in one place! It made me a little nervous to carry so much money around, but as it turned out, hardly anyone took notice of me. I don't think anyone expects to see a goblin, even one with as noble a bearing and as nicely dresseed as I, to have a lot of money. Unfortunately, the healers at Jorasco took very little notice of me as well. They could recommend no traveling healer unless I gave them an exorbitant amount of money. I wasn't about to waste someone else's money, so I politely declined their assistance. I asked around on my own but had no luck. I returned to the house without a healer and returned the money to Artemis. Sten kindly offered me the bed in his room, as he had no need to sleep. The bed was much too big, and the room too open, for my comfort, so I took the blankets into the closet instead. I don't know how those people can sleep in a place where any person can sneak up behind them, but having three walls at my sides made me feel better. In the morning, I learned that Xil had located a healer - a halfling by the name of Robin! Of course, I should have thought of Robin - I know of him only by reputation, but it is a well-known reputation. He's supposed to be a competent healer - dragonmarked of Jorasco, even - but he's had a run of bad luck lately. Seems the last few adventures that've hired him on haven't returned, though Robin has returned with a pile of treasure. Well, I can't hold a bit of opportunism against him - I can imagine his adventuring companions might not have treated him very well - so I went to fetch him while other preparations were made. Robin was quite eager to go, either to get out of the city or just for the chance to turn his luck around, I don't know. When we returned to the house, Artemis inspected his dragonmark and quizzed the halfling on his abilities and knowledge. Artemis seemed satisfied, and we set out. I was very excited to be returning to Argonessen! There was another argument about searching the room or somesuch, and Caelen was eager to rush through and look for enemies. I waited, with some impatience I'll admit, to get through the door and peer through another of the windows. The scene was much the same, including the position of the sun. I was almost certain it was exactly the same time as the day before. Once again, I was rushed out of the room and back into the long tunnel that led to the scarab swarms. Artemis told us that there had been someone else through the door. He had left a ward of somesort behind that had been triggered. We opened the door back to the room of traps, and sure enough, there were several blades grinding away at some bodies and the pit was open again. I wanted to go search the bodies for anything useful, but Artemis insisted we carry on in case there are others about to beat us to their prize. I wasn't as worried; since I doubted anyone was interested in what I wanted, but I suppose it's possible some fool could damage important information in a hasty search. We got to the room of soldier statues when we heard the sound of falling gates, followed by a loud curse. I didn't have to strain my ears much to hear the scuttling sound of beetles. Xil and Caelen went for high ground - again, I refrained from telling them how futile it was - and Robin asked in a loud, strained voice if anyone was going to help them. Artemis told us to stay behind, giving himself flight with a scroll. I ran towards the gates, with Artemis right above me in the air. I know it was foolish of me to run towards such terrible danger, but I couldn't bear the idea of standing here while someone was eaten alive by those bugs. I guess I'm a bit soft when it comes down to it. I don't think I'll tell Hunter about it. He wouldn't run into danger for a stranger. As it turns out, the stranger was one of the halfling plains riders - he and his mount were standing on the ceiling between two fallen gates! I took a moment to admire such a well-trained beast. The halfling summoned a large sphere of fire, and sent it rolling down the hallway, where the scarabs were just appearing around the corner. They scuttled out of the way of the fire, and perhaps a few of them were roasted, but it made little difference in the strength of it. Artemis similarly threw a fireball down there, with the same result. Luckily, I had prepared myself already with a shocking grasp, so I could hit them as the swarmed over me - as they shortly did. Artemis actually had the audacity to tell me not to use fire. As if it wasn't obvious I had already figured that out on my own! We dispatched the scarabs with a minimum of trouble, at least so I thought, until I noticed that someone had singed my kimono with more acid, and Caelen appeared to be about to suffer the same fate as Dalia. I called out to Robin, who I think had run away when the fight began, and Artemis began chanting over his gorgon-headed staff. He finished his infusion, and tapped the staff against Caelen's abdomen with another command word. The scarabs were forcibly expelled from Caelen's body. I decided to attend to the trapped halfling while Robin began attending to their wounds. It took some time, but I managed to lift the bars high enough so that the halfling, who had introduced himself as Conshru and his mount was Grix, could lift it the rest of the way into the ceiling. I decided we ought to take care of both doors while we were at it. However, when I stepped through, the gate behind me fell again. I think my heart skipped a few beats while I waited to hear if the scarabs were coming for us again, but I didn't hear their scuttling, so I began to lift the grate again. Around this time, the others joined us, and with Artemis's help, the doors were disabled. Conshru informed us that there were seven in the group that was behind and ahead of us. We had only accounted for six so far, and hadn't found a pile of clothing that would indicate that someone else had been eaten by scarabs. Conshru told us that this was a sacred place, according to his people, and that he was here to remove those who had entered without permission. I think everyone in our group looked a bit nervous about this, but Artemis played it cool enough, and offered to help Conshru find the final adventurer. We continued down the hallway without further mishap, although there was a length of it with a number of holes in the wall that were probably where the scarabs came from. I think we all breathed a bit easier once we were past it! We came to an arched entry into a large, square room. There was a winged beetle at the apex of the arch, the design much like those on the stone soldiers we had found earlier. The room beyond was dark and glittered with pinpoints of red light from the ceiling. There were more twelve-foot tall statues along either side of the room, and two above a dark, 10-foot wide pit. Conshru continued along on the ceiling, while Artemis made a thorough search of the chamber. When Conshru crossed the chasm, his magic suddenly failed. He fell to one side of the pit and Grix to the other. With remarkably little hesitation, the small dinosaur jumped across the chasm to rejoin his master. We started to discuss how the rest of us might cross the pit, and I made ready to jump across to hold a rope while the others crossed. Conshru backed away from the chasm, to give us room to come across, when the sarcophagus on the other side suddenly swung open, and a mummy stepped forth! Conshru retreated up the wall while I finished my jump, giving myself a bit of a boost to speed before hand, so I could reach the mummy once I got there. I swung at him, but my sword was deflected by the pectoral hanging from the mummy's neck. In very little time, Caelen was also fighting beside me. The mummy retreated from us and lifted his scepter, which shot forth a black mix of fire and lightning that arced between us all before grounding out in one of the statues above the pit. I charged the mummy, this time attacking with all of my strength and expending a fair bit of magic, but I burned him with a combination of fire and lightning as well! He practically exploded with the force of my strength and magic. I felt triumphant, and smiled at my new companions. Everyone but Caelen looked impressed, I thought. Caelen seemed a bit sour, and complained that he hadn't had a chance to attack the mummy himself. I don't think any of us was ready to enter the dark, magicless pit, so we began to search the room more thoroughly for clues. As we still hadn't found the seventh adventurer, Conshru and I returned to the entrance to make a more thorough search for bodies, and to strip those left behind of useful items. I wondered if the last had hidden himself amongst the statues while we passed, and made his retreat after we were gone. I figured the person leaving would likely take time to at least strip some of his companions to help his escape, so we might glean some clue of they didn't have much of value on them. We confirmed there were, indeed, only six bodies (and unfortunately, six ghosts!) and found a number of magical and alchemical items in their possession. Conshru and I returned to our companions; he elected to take a nap while I made a study of the ceiling, which I discovered was decorated with some kind of glowing red gems in constellation patterns. I made notes of them, but we couldn't find any way to make use of them. Finally, we decided it would be necessary to lower someone into the pit to investigate. After some argument, we decided it would be Sten, who was more resilient and somewhat resistant to the beetles' effects. It turned out to be lucky we had, because when we pulled him up again, he was covered in a number of the horrible bugs! They dropped from him as soon as we got him over the edge and scuttled back into the darkness. I borrowed Sten's grappling hook and dragged it along the bottom of the pit to see if the seventh adventurer had fallen down there and left his clothing behind. No luck. Finally, we decided we'd have to investigate the pit trap that would open at the edge of the magicless pit. We discovered that it was a chute that dropped down below the darkness pit, so after some preparations by Artemis, we climbed down and found ourselves in a very wet, skull-piled room with a number of niches to either side. There was also a body down here - the seventh adventurer. As we tried to determine what had killed him, two more mummies appeared out of the first set of niches, attacking Caelen and Xil. A shadowy form came rushing out of the darkened end of the room towards me, babbling incoherently. A number of our companions were held spellbound by the strange voice, while it reached out to me with a cold hand that made me feel a bit light headed as it passed through my body. I began to attack it vigorously, though my blade passed harmlessly through the incorporeal body as often as not. I felt a little mad, I admit, and was almost overcome by a fit of giggles when the terribly cold hand passed through me again. Two zombies had joined the fight somehow, before I took care of the black shadow, which I caused to explode in a mix of fire and electricity. Xil was fighting off one of the mummies, while Sten battled the other. Caelen came out of his stupor as the shadow dissipated and ran over to help Xil. Conshru was holding off the two zombies with blasts of fire. Still a bit light headed, I really would rather have sat down for a rest, but I moved forward to help Conshru with the skeletons. In short order, we dispatched the rest of them. Xil seemed to have been affected by the mummy's curse, something I had heard of but never seen. Blackness was spreading over his body, but luckily for him, one of the scrolls Artemis had thought to buy was one to break the mummy's curse. Robin had a wand that cured me of my light-headedness and Xil of the remaining effects of the curse. We thoroughly searched the room and still couldn't find the dragonshard Artemis and his companions were looking for. We made the climb back out of the lower chamber and once again looked around the room, trying to decide what to do. Sten wondered if we should light the braziers on the other side of the pit, and I suggested we try filling the pool between the mummy's coffin and the pit with water. Artemis seemed doubtful, but didn't have any better ideas, so he agreed. Conshru, Artemis, and myself made our way across, armed with water and fire. ... [/QUOTE]
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The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith
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