I must have left my pen and ink at the last place I wrote a page in this journal, because I can't find them in any of my packs. A recent ally named Nadarr was kind enough to lend me his pen. Before I start my recollection, I must describe his pen! It is very simple, like my porcupine quill was; yet instead of having to dip it into a pool of ink every occasionally to continue to write, this pen has a reservoir containing a sludgy ink that doesn't run across the page if you tilt the surface before it dries! The end of the pen, the end that doesn't write, has a button that retracts the tip of the pen when not in use, to keep it from inking on anything while stowed. When retracted, pressing the button will push out the writing tip, and lock it out until it's pushed again. What a marvelous mechanism in such a simple item! But I have digressed too far.
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(Forgive my poor recollection; it has been a number of days since I lost my pen.)
After Vecna was destroyed, and Lolth vanished, we decided we needed to follow the beam to wherever it led next, prismably another temple. So we did leave, and just outside this temple we ran into a Hengeyokai fox girl who was blazing through the brush like so chased by brutes, but we promised her protection as long as we were travelling together. It so turns out she is travelling and wandering for the sake of adventure and wanderlust, so we may have the pleasure of her company and wit a while longer. A very charming young lady, and enjoying song, she sings with a voice as pure as the northern snows. Polaris is her name.
We walked back to the stupid town, whose name I never wrote down, and I forgot. (Somewhat fitting, I should think.) Vol bought some maps. I had it in my mind to give the physician a taste of his own medicine, as they say, and with the idea of murder squelched, I readied some coin and a vial of fog infused with those berries, hidden in my hand. I knocked on his door with a fake yet pleasant smile. He opened his eye slot, and asked what I wanted. I bluffed gratitude at healing Vol and keeping the town healthy, all the while grating my teeth at the arrogance he bled from behind the door. After agreeing to accept a few platinum coin as thanks, he closed the slot and opened the door, when I threw in the vial which broke open and fumed up fast. Vol and I slammed the door shut until we felt no more resistance, then ran out of town.
We met with our friends outside of town, and decided to head back to the ship. We had a map, and we decided to head north along the coast. Just before we got to the ship, though, a dragon and some massive tree-beasts cut us off. We sank the dragon into the water under the cliff, and lept down the cliff onto our ship.
We set sail for near a day, biding our time with stories and singing, fishing and concocting. Polaris caught a large clam with a great pearl inside, which she carries at her side as a garnish. I caught a puffer fish, and used its poison to make a powerful battle poison, to smear on a blade. Vol stumbled upon a school of sea cucumbers, and caught many in a net. We docked far to the north, and saught a cave for shelter. At some point the Wilden wandered off again. He can just easily care for himself and his spider, so we didn't worry. We reached the cave as a blizzard blew in, obscuring visibility and biting through our armor and clothes. It was very dark under the ground, but we saw a light further in, with sounds of struggle, so we investigated. A Dragon-born was fending off two giant gelatinous cubes. We advanced, making clear that we were there to help, lest he strike us as offenders. We struck hard and true, and by the end of it all, we had miniature gelatinous cubes following us as pets. Vol fed his a sea cucumber, and they both exploded. Those sea beasts are quite volatile. He gave me a few to use as triggers for alchemical traps. As for the fight with the large cubes, I did not enjoy it. I was engulfed twice inside, and I could feel their acids beginning to digest me, before I managed to wriggle out of them.
Afterwards, we introduced ourselves to the Dragon-born. His name is Nadarr, and is dressed in strange clothes. They looked masterfully crafted, with impeccable stitchwork, and of strange material. They looked almost otherworldly. But he fights with skill with his longsword, and intimidating as he is in battle, he seems to hold a kindly manner. Of note. He says he was once a human, before coming to this plane.
We opened camp, and talked for a bit. Polaris found an owl, and started barking at it for a spell. She started digging holes around Vol as he slept, and I smiled in amusement, looking up from my alchemy kit. At a few points, she seemed to dig up a bell (it looked like a bell, but sounded more like a whistle), and then a chess board. Some other explorers must have set up camp here long before us coming. Soon into our rest, we found an elf chasing a golem into our camp, before killing it with an arcing bolt of energy, which struck a few of us, too. We eventually followed the elf lady deeper into the cave, keeping our distance, as she kept her speed. We noticed the Wilden secretly sneaking very successfully behind us, but we ignored him. She led us into a temple under the earth, guarded by false walls and puzzling locks of arcane design. At the end, on a dais, she found what she was looking for - a green crystal ball, which she attached to her staff. Upon removing the ball, a panel in the wall slid open, revealing a door, which she left through in haste. Through the door was a rocky tunnel, which opened into a field. We followed, and noticed that she left no tracks in the snow at the end of the hall. But we saw a small village off in the distance, and made our way there.
The village was small, the smallest we've seen yet in our travels. All the buildings were tents; although most were small, there looked some mighty spacious ones. I went to look for an alchemist, from whom to buy reagents or learn some new concoctions. The experiences I had... I'll write on a separate page. But afterwards, I met up with my friends at the pub, and we played a few games, as well. Polaris had set up the chess board she dug up earlier, and after a mentally strenuous game with the ghosted chess master in the board, I felt strangely mentally rejuvenated, but left in a trance-like state. I'm not sure if that was from the game, or from the peculiar potion I drank earlier.. But I slept easy that night.
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