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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dinkeldog" data-source="post: 387544" data-attributes="member: 195">From the Collected Letters of Sir Kellan EversharNikolai cast a spell called ethereal jaunt, which allowed him to follow Dale's mist form to wherever it might go - in this case, further into the cave nest, and up into one of the capped nest cells on the ceiling. Nik returned to us, reporting the presence of five vampire spawn huddling near the cave entrance - Rod lobbed a fireball down the hallway to quickly polish them off, which had the unfortunate side effect of setting the paper nest aflame. Quickly, we detected the cell Dale's regenerating body was cloistered in; rematerializing inside the cell, Nik drove the broken wood haft of Jaag's axe through the vampire's heart. "I will be the first to curse your name, but not the last" - with these words to Nik, Stirling Dale was incapacitated.While Rod and Jaag teleported back to Verbobonc, Nik and I dragged the fallen paladin's body out into the sunlight. The undead flesh began to wisp and burn, and a glowing light surrounded the body - to be replaced slowly with gathering shadows, and a shrill scream resounded in our ears, as if a soul was being devoured. This is the sad end of our former brother-in-arms, Stirling Dale. I think to the very end he still thought he was capable of carrying out the will of Heironeous, even with the blackness that he knew was encompassing his heart. Surely, some dark power had replaced Dale's holy abilities with evil ones, perhaps with Dale not even fully knowing the import and source of the change. It is certain that our comrade's tale is a cautionary one, a story of hubris and a good man turned evil as much by his quest for power as by an unfortunate encounter with a vampire yuan-ti in a land so far from the place of his final death. Still, his accomplishments in the service of our Master were many, and we have returned his sword to the priests at the temple here, to be treasured so that others may think about his life, undeath, and death, and be made wiser for the contemplation.Jorie remained in the valley while Nik and I teleported to Verbobonc; we knew we would return in several days, probably with reinforcements from our temples to permanently hold the gateway stronghold. Thus followed several days of recuperation and provisioning; while bland-sounding, it was not without its moments; Rod visited a female sage of his aquaintance (a frequent beneficiary of his coin, if I may put it delicately) to ascertain some information about the black book we had found; the divination went disastrously wrong, as we found out when Rod teleported directly into our compound, screaming for help at the top of his lungs. From what we could gather once we reached the scene, a powerful demon was summoned up by the book, or the act of divination, or both, and the demon wreaked havoc on the place, encasing the entire building in sheets of ice before departing.Whether coincidence or not, this was the first day that clerics and spellcasters of all types began having troubles receiving or casting spells. Nikolai contacted a lesser servant of Fharlanghan to gather more information, and the harried servant let on that an evil was growing that requires the attention of the gods - an evil not dealt with ever before. In addition, it said that the instrument of doom and salvation lay within our midst. While cryptic, this intelligence made us want to find out more about the portal, and what we would need to do to correct the problems developing all over the known world.Two days later, Nik and I returned to the valley to tie up many loose ends. We had to hold up our side of the agreement with Nakhtibastet and help her leave the valley; after finding her, we found out that a half-dozen yuan-ti had re-entered the stronghold, and left with something folded up. They were quite agitated, and vanished into the jungle. Nik's teleportation could only be done once per day, so it gave me time to visit the mongrelmen and see what needed to be done there.Upon my arrival, it was obvious that they did not appreciate all we had done to help their lives in the valley; no matter that we had destroyed their enemies, ending the threats to their lives and their need to live in dank caves. They were angry that I would not rut with their woman, and said they had no need for me as their leader; that my "rash actions would have repercussions" (an enigmatic formulation they would not elaborate on). They released me from the duties of leadership, for which I was grateful; certainly, while I was willing to deal with the consequences of the situation they had placed me in, and help them improve their lives in the valley, they were unwilling to see past their own situation. I cannot blame them for their point of view, but they were even confused as to how I became their leader; they implied that I had eagerly stepped forward to challenge their former leader, when in fact I only stepped forward when no one else would (certainly I would never eagerly claim to be leader of our group; any such title would be for Nikolai to receive if it ever mattered). I shall meditate on the misunderstandings of this situation and hopefully learn how I can avoid such troubles in the future. Certainly, those responsible for guarding the gateway stronghold had best be wary of the folk, for they have proven unreliable as a population to be counted on for aid.The next day, we prepared to leave with Nakhtibastet, but we first tried to contact the Lady in the Lake, with no success. We teleported back to the outskirts of the city, and I found myself quite saddened at the prospect of leaving such an interesting and faithful ally. After nearly completing our good-byes, I remembered something Rod had mentioned some time ago, and I had discarded out-of-hand: would it be possible to have her as a companion, as some others in our order have done with dragons and unicorns in lieu of mounts? I had discarded the notion, thinking that such a creature would be unwilling to join me, even in a more equal situation than a paladin finds with his special mount, but on impulse, I asked her, and she agreed to join me, on the condition that I would help her with a riddle that had been perplexing her for some time. Each morning, she will ask me for the answer to the riddle, and the day we discover the right answer is the day she leaves my service. This seemed quite equitable to me, and so the agreement was reached.Now we face more troubling times, and a solution to the current problems seems to lie through the unknown destination on the other side of the planar gate. When I shall be able to report next, only Heironeous knows; but I shall endeavor to do my best to serve him, and you as well, with honor, valor, and humility.In the service of the Great Knight, I remain,Yours Faithfully,Kellan EversharFrom the Journal of Nikolai DavrosWe killed Sterling Dale.It was fitting that I drove the stake home using the split haft of Jaag's axe that Dale himself had sundered in two.  We recovered a large amount of treasure from the lair and returned to Verbobonc.The next day was a strange one.  The priests both at my temple and that of Heironeous had poor dreams, and some priests were unable to recover their full allotment of spells.  Rodrigo took the book we recovered to Satine, the bard-harlot whom he had struck up an "arrangement" with.  She was killed when a demon somehow emerged from her insides with out her permission, killing her in the process.  Rod was nearly killed, but escaped.  When we returned the brothel was encased in ice, and the demon had fled.We returned to the valley to bring the Sphinx back, and she struck a deal to act as Kellen's mount (or vice versa, to be more precise).Divinations and Communes have proven less than conclusive in regard to the cause of this malaise afflicting the clergy.  We have learned that some information may be gleaned by using the gate from the Yuan Ti lair.  We will have to investigate further...</blockquote>

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