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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ao the Overkitty" data-source="post: 1552005" data-attributes="member: 9758">Journal Entry of Seth Lochmar - September 18thSeptember 18th, 1002    It has been a rather eventful past two days.  Just before dusk on Monday, we gathered on our mounts outside of the Manor.  Simon, Tellsford, Padraic, Lumin, and myself had decided to accompany Fiona to Horsedowns and then on to Towerview so she could see this Robert.  The story goes that Robert was pushed overboard on his way into Arleans by boat.  We’ve pieced together that it was the Ogre Mage that knocked him overboard.  The real stallion also went overboard, pulling Robert to shore, where members of Towerview found him and began to treat him.  The stallion has been housed at Horsedowns since then.  Tellsford was looking forward to seeing the real thing.So, as the sunset over the horizon, we set out on our journey down the drive.  Once we had past the gates for the estate and turned onto the road, the man that accompanied the two Horsedowns women started to chant.  As he continued to chant, the sound of our horses’ hoof beats changed.  They started to become muffled, almost like they were hitting softer and softer ground.  The world around us began to distort, turning darker.  As we rode past the orchards, they took on a twisted look.  The houses on the property looked warped and more sinister.  And I could have sworn I saw an extra house out there.  Lumin’s glow was much more dim.  His radiance did not extend more than ten feet around him.  We could see a path ahead of us.  Though it did not always appear straight, the Horsedowns riders assured us it was.As we rode on, we found a castle in the way right near the end of our journey.  We were told we would have to go through the castle, because if we went around it, we would lose our path and probably get lost in the Crease forever.  It was obvious someone was trying to stop us from getting to Horsedowns, but there was not much we could do about that right now.  So, we left the Horsedowns riders and their chanter further back and moved on to clear the path for them.When we approached the gates, they opened to let out some hounds.  Large, shadowy creatures that seemed to ooze an icky aura out of them.  It was enough to frighten Simon off, sending him away from the hounds and the path.  After the hounds were dispatched, Tellsford decided to go off after Simon.  The Horsedowns riders were very surprised when Tellsford actually returned, let alone with Simon in tow.After letting the dogs out, the doors remained closed, so we decided to try and gain entry another way.  Padraic flew Fiona over while the rest of us climbed up the palisades with grappling hooks.  The castle itself was divided into four courtyards with a keep in the middle.  The courtyards each had their own defenders in it.  This first one was filled with 40 statues that attacked us once we touched ground from going over the wall.  Another courtyard was guarded by gusts of wind.  Fiona seemed to be far too happy about killing one of the air elementals with a punch from her gauntlet.  Each courtyard had a tower in it, guarded on top by Will-O’-Wisps.  The tops of the towers were slanted and greased, making the Wisps nasty to deal with.  After the first time I slid off and met a very painful ground, I decided I was best staying down there and healing those that came to me.  Lumin went up there and zapped the wisps with his light beam while Padraic held Fiona in the air so she could sling spells.  Simon and Tellsford went up and came down a lot.    After we had gotten through the first three courtyards, we found our way into the keep.  Once inside, we found a room filled with Black Tentacles.  We saw the stairs in the middle that we had to get through, so we just to slice and dispel our way through.  Padraic and Simon were the first to make it to the staircase, where an invisible dog bit Simon.  Padraic tumbled his way past the first only to be bitten by a second one.  Their barking surely alerted their master to our presence, if all the commotion outside and in hadn’t already.  By the time the rest of us made it to the stairs, the faithful hounds had vanished.At the top of the stairs, we found another room filled with tentacles.  This one, however, was much smaller and two levels.  About halfway in was a ten foot high ledge where a Slaad was spread out like a big slug.  And, the oddest of all in the room was that it was sleeting in there.  Everything was slippery and it was rather hard to see.  This Slaad was the most peculiar of creatures.  He wore big glasses, was very greasy and called himself Frank.  He seemed to be the most spineless of people, wanting us to go away.  Sure he was being paid to impede us, but he didn’t want to actually get hurt.I’m really not sure how it happened, but we ended up fighting him.  It seemed like a very silly thing to be doing, but when he went to recast his protection spells, Simon and Tellsford twitched and let loose on the guy.  There was a lot of slipping and sliding and falling down, but Fiona managed to take care of dispelling the tentacles.  I spent most of the fight on my back from the slippery ground.  I did eventually get up onto the ledge with Tellsford’s help.  Simon really seemed to want to kill the creature, but I made sure that it was only knocked unconscious by hitting it with my merciful sword.In a hidden crawlspace underneath the ledge we found a lot of items along with a bound and gagged man.  After we woke him up we found out his name was Sirius and he was one of Cohen’s apprentices.  I remembered that Cohen had said he had been searching for his two lost apprentices, so we offered for him to come with is.We were running out of time, so we had Fiona and Padraic scope out the last courtyard while the rest of us went back for the horses and Horsedowns riders.  When we returned, Padraic reported that all they found was a cave and a tree in front of the cave.  The Horsedowns riders said that the cave would be the exit and we should head for it immediately.  We were all weary of the tree.  Something about it screamed trap.  Sure enough, when Padraic approached the cave, the tree attacked.  He let loose at the tree with bows, crossbows, and spells.  The tree didn’t seem to like that, so it grabbed a hold of Padraic and disappeared.Not sure what had happened to Padraic, we weren’t sure what to do.  However, the Horsedowns riders shouted that we only had seconds before we wouldn’t be able to leave for a day.  So, we all ran and rode for the cave.  Upon entering it we were exiting another cave into a hilly area.  We could just see the last vestiges of light as dusk gave way into night.  A little ways off, we could see a figure shooting crossbow bolts at a tree from a distance.  When the tree vanished, Padraic ran up to us.We all rode on to Horsedowns from there to get a good night’s sleep.  In the morning we had breakfast with Laird Bellany Horsedowns.  She informed us of a meeting of Lairds that was going to happen the next day in Stockport to discuss the upcoming vote.  We all decided that it was in our best interests for me to attend while the others went on to Towerview to collect Robert.  Tellsford decided it wasn’t safe for me to go on alone so decided to act as my guard.  While I wasn’t exactly alone, he didn’t seem to feel Lumin could adequately protect me.On the trip to Stockport, Tellsford worked out an agreement with Horsedowns for the use of the stallion for stud with Laird Bellany.  She also seemed interested in using my horse for stud.  It seems she felt that a Paladin’s Mount would give exceptional offspring.  And, I’m not entirely sure about this, but I don’t think she was just looking for stud services from my mount.Stockport was exactly what you would expect from its name.  It was a very smelly place with cattle, swine, and other stock in corrals waiting to be shipped to their prospective buyers.  The meeting itself was held in a large tiered assembly hall with tables set on the upper tiers for private conversations.  There was a refreshments table near the center platform, where lairds could get up and give speeches to the hall.Geffen was once again rather nervous when I greeted Bearsden.  He was even more so when I said I hadn’t had time to further consider the loan Big Jim had offered the clan.Donnel NewGable definitely falls under the category of interesting.  While my other family members seem to think I’m paranoid, this man was the very definition of the word.  He talked very emphatically and with large arm movements.  Basically, he acted as if he has had far too much of that coffee Fiona and Padraic are so fond of.  He greeted me as if we were long time friends.  That seems to be just because I’m a Lochmar.  After all, he used to be a Lochmar and even held the title of Huntlord when Andreas was actively Laird.  After the great battle at the Cairnsbridge, he has since gone on to start his own clan.  But, he kept asking me what our next move was. Also, he acted as if assassins were a very common thing for Lochmars.One of the last people I talked with was Sheriff Todd Towerview.  His clan, as those that patrol the seas, was put in charge of dealing with the Death Knight situation.  He is a very serious man and takes his job very, well… seriously.  He is very purpose driven with little time fro frivolities.  I thanked him for taking care of Robert, but his attitude towards that was along the lines of ‘It’s my duty, why are you thanking me?’  Still, I was somehow able to convince him to accept our help in the Death Knight problem.  I’m really not sure how I did that.  I think it just came down to my actually getting through to him that he would not lose any face from accepting our help and we really felt we should be involved in this matter.  Donnel had jumped into the conversation to try and help me convince him, but I’m not sure if he helped or hindered.Not much else was accomplished at the meeting.  A couple of lairds got up and announced why we should either send the frigates or keep the frigates, but nothing was actually agreed upon.  Still, it was good to see where some of the other clans stood on the issue.</blockquote>

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