# The Travel Journal of Eris by Starlight (Keep on the Shadowfell)



## Brenda Arcane (Jun 23, 2008)

Day One

_I pray for the blessings of the all-knowing Stars,
By whom Demon and God alike navigate the darkness._

    As a young Tiefling, I frequented the libraries and bazaars, reading the tattered acounts of past adventurers.  Without these accounts, I would have remained a barmaid in the family tavern with no future to ask the Stars about.  Therefore, in the honor and tradition of those before me, I have begun a travel journal of my own.  Perhaps after I die or become insane the Stars will guide some youth to my own words.  I have found myself under the employ of the Temple of Pelor.  I am joined by three other adventurers:  the Dragonborn Paladin Shenlong, the Halfling Rogue Kuh-nightmare, and the Tiefling Warlord Toby.

     We journeyed to the town of Winterhaven, where it was rumored that cult activity was taking place.  On the road there, we had our first encounter.  A band of Kobolds surprised us.

    I have had my share of combat experience.  However, apparently fighting Kobalds in the woods is not the same as subduing a drunken patron.  I'm afraid my performance in combat was unsatisfactory.  The Paladin had to give me two of his healing surges so I could survive.  Despite his feeble protests that he, as a follower of Corellon, liked to protect magic-users, the other adventurers joked later that he was only giving healing surges to adventurers with breasts.

    We won the day, barely.

    In the town, we traveled to the temple of Avandra and spoke with the priestess.  She did not know of any occult activity in the area.  However, she did know of the Kobald trouble.  She told us that the mayor of the town was looking to reward anyone who could stop the Kobalds from harrying travelers.


Day Two

_I pray for the blessings of the all-knowing Stars,
By whom Demon and God alike navigate the darkness._

    We set out to explore the King's Road.  There were Kobalds there alright.  There's always a deeper evil when Kobalds are involved.  We were attacked by a Kobald sorceror and his small entourage.  While my companions went into the fight head on, I was better prepared to use my abilities.  I marked all of my closest enemy with a Warlock's Curse.  Then, I moved behind some trees, thirty feet at a time to activate my Shadow Walk concealment.  When I was in line of sight of the sorceror, I used the magic of the Stars to cast Dire Radiance.  The sorceror's retaliation, however, left me bloodied.  Even though I saw that the Warlord next to him was unconscious, I returned to the trees to heal myself and evade any further attacks.  One unconscious Tiefling is better than two dead Tieflings.  

     The Sorceror attempted to step toward me, but that was his last mistake.  The radiance of my attack grew brighter and disintegrated him.

     After I defeated the Sorceror, I thought that the rest of the fight would be a rout, but I was wrong.  The battle left the Paladin and the Warlord half alive.  Fortunately, one Kobald was half alive as well.  We tried to intimidate it into revealing where the Kobold nest was, but it stayed strong.  Upon going through the Sorceror's things, the warlord found a Dragon necklace which was a symbol of the God Orcus, the evil god of death.

     Feeling that there must be a link between the Kobolds and the cult, we tied the lone Kobold up next to the bodies, and we left the rogue there to follow him once he freed himself.  The halfling only followed him a little ways south before losing him.

     The Rogue met up with us in the tavern.  We decided to get some guidance on the matter, given our new evidence.

     The priestess didn't know anything about the necklace, but she was disturbed by the fact that there was evidence of cult activity in the realm.  She told us of a Sage in the Inn who knew more about Orcus than she.  She also told us of a traveler who disappeared shortly after he announced that he had discovered a Dragon burial ground to the South.

     We traveled to the tavern to speak with the Sage.  The Sage told us that a keep to the North guarded a tear between our dimension and those of the demons.  A necklace of Orcus was a very grave omen indeed.  A cult of Orkas could be seeking to open the tear.

     We decided as a group to ignore the Kobald nest which probably was to the South, and, instead, to travel directly to the Keep.  With this looming over us, we each went to rest.


Day 3

_I pray for the blessings of the all-knowing Stars,
By whom Demon and God alike navigate the darkness._

     We arose early this morning to investigate the keep.  

     The keep was mostly ruins.  In reality, there was no keep to speak of, only a door leading to a well-lit staircase.  We descended the staircase into a room with four columns in the middle.

     The first thing that caught our attention, though, was a goblin making obscene gestures and shouting at us across the room.  The halfling, fluent in goblin speech, translated for us.  I won't bother repeating it here.  Even tieflings have a higher sense of decency than goblins.

     Toby the Warlord stepped up first to kill the goblin, and he fell into a hole filled with rats.  The area at the center of the four pillars was really a hole covered with a canvas.  Luckily, Toby got out quickly, and we were able to defeat the original goblin slime and his friends, who appeared from the left doorway.

     After the battle, we decided to head to the left hallway, where the trouble came from.  As we walked through the hallway, I thought I saw the mark of my clan through a rat-chewed hole in Toby's armor.  I decided that it may be no more than an illusion in the flickering torchlight, and I'm going to wait until the Stars can get a good look at him outside before I ask any questions.

     We could hear voices in the other room.  The halfling told us that they were grousing about their lot in life.  They had apparently been digging for days without any sign of treasure.  

     We steeled ourselves for the coming battle, and we entered a room that had a pit in the middle with two fire drakes in it.  There were goblin sharpshooters across the pit from us, readying their bows, and there were three columns of stone in the middle of the pit at the same height as the floor.  The only way to get across to the other side was to use the wooden planks to get from stone to stone.

     We devised a plan.  The stronger members of the party, the warlord andthe paladin would take out the drakes while the halfling and I would move in closer to take out the goblins.

     One of the fire drakes had already climbed out of the pit.

     While Toby and the paladin moved in on the fire drakes, I started to walk across the plank to the first stone column.  I couldn't keep balance, so I fell into the pit with the other fire drake.  Even though a fire drake was already attacking Toby at this point, the paladin jumped into the pit to protect me.  I realize he's sworn to protect magic-users, but sometimes he gets a little overzealous.  Admittedly, I knew that I was going to get hurt, but I felt confidant in my ability to defeat the drake on my own.  I am resistant to fire, after all.

     The battle was tough.  We had to retreat all the way back up the stairs to win, and the paladin kept getting in my way, but we made it.  After the battle, the halfling discovered a secret door, which we intend to investigate tomorrow.  At the moment, we're all resting and tending our wounds until the next day.  We have watches set up.


Day 4

_I pray for the blessings of the all-knowing Stars,
By whom Demon and God alike navigate the darkness._

    After our rest, we ventured down the secret passageway.  At the door, we could hear snoring.  The halfling rogue tiptoed stealthily and delivered a staggering blow to the goblin asleep in the bed.  Then, we all ran in and surrounded him.  After the last fight, we had no stomach for mercy or questioning.  We slaughtered him in his bed, and, finding the key on his person, the rogue opened the chest at the foot of his bed.  He gave the contents to me:  one magic wand.  

     Suddenly, there was a pounding at the main entrance of the room.  The halfling tried to hold them back by bluffing, but the goblins behind the door didn't buy it.  They crashed in, but we managed to hold the doorway and defend ourselves until there were no more goblins spilling through it.

     We pushed a bed against the door, and we rested for another night.


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