[Cuhel The'Anon]'s Journal

A wanderer with various skills and knowledges. He carries at all times a notebook in which he writes various observations.  He seems detached from the dangers of the world and fascinated by the intricacies thereof.  He has white, marbled-stone colored skin, and eyes with a strange, cosmic brightness to them.  He can often be found nibbling on food from pouches absent-mindedly unless he is furrowed in interest over one of his journals.

Cuhel The’Anon is a timeless member of the [Nevarian] race.  Over centuries and through his many passings, he has acted as a blacksmith, a writer, a thief, a merchant, a hero, a rogue: he has done much and traveled all over the wide world.  He knows many secrets of nature and of the stars.  He is vastly interested in the concepts that today drive architecture and engineering, as he knows their value through his years as a dungeon delver.  What drives the explorer The’Anon most is his curiosity in the Arcane, and finding its place in the mundane world.  The’Anon finds that metal is a wonderful symbol for the arcane: the individual drawing out the hidden power in the world (and in himself).
In person, The’Anon is shy and curt, detached and bemused.  However, beyond his social distance, he is wise and exceedingly intelligent.  He is fortuitous, strong and graceful: trained throughout time, keeping his body a well-structured temple: his skin itself has the coloration of marble stone, and his eyes shine like stars in the night: they gaze back at the distant watchers.  His hair has a metallic tinge to it, looking white at first glance but upon closer inspection, shining silver and gold in turns. Having seen the rise and fall of countless civilizations, The’Anon learned long ago to keep to the outskirts of society: he is a wanderer, ever seeking something on the horizon or hidden within the earth.

He is currently sailing on the ship Elentin: working for Cardon Goldslaver. the people onboard dislike The'Anon. humans called 'lanks' throughout the world. dwarves are called 'beards' or 'stouts.'  Job for Cardon is to 'guard the loot.'

partymates: The gregarious duelist [Lethario], the heavy handed cleric [Desmond], the cat-like hunter [Althalos] and his pet dog. Perhaps a bard, [Marlin]

rivals: the arcanist'K' [Kareacot]

Rough Times in Foul Water:  Having run into a Merchant Slaver who caught him pick pocketing, Anon went toe-to-toe with a Squall, taking severe damage and barely wounding the squall.  Receiving healing from Desmond, Anon was bandaged.  He then rested on a rooftop and was assaulted by a man in a black steel mask who took his two spellbooks.  Found that his books were stolen.  Lessons: do not toe-to-toe with a squall.
Man in the Black Steel Mask: doesn't kill, very good at stealing things from people, sway the economics of the world, said to be able to steal from anyone.  No set location: no one we know has hired him.: turns out he has a ruined face. leathers, a dagger, a small vial of poison (steel mask poison)
goals: find spellbooks stolen by a person in black mask with a dagger.

purchase spellbooks.

found spellbook, found out that there is significant evidence of karecot stealing the spellbook and the journal. also, he has all my spells.

Map from a captive pirate:

3 celestial bodies: an island with waves: a map where tail blade lived: where his hideout is.  His men knows he has the map: how they were gonna get home: he was the navigator:

Captured: 12 pirates, 1 navigator: named Erid.

Ask Marin for details (they stationed from there: 2 boats, nearby, stores all his money there: Tailblade: ruthless, crazy pirates, he can talk with Hoggles.
Defenses: crabs on the island, big as a man: they holed up in an old building, ruins: made of stone with artwork carved into it, in the jungle, forty/fifty pirates with them, permanent crew unsure.  The island is a day or so away.  Towards the sun in the morning, away from the sun in the evening. Little bit off the way. Facing galley, it is to starboard, 3 or 4 days journey.)

Erniff fairly greedy, agreed to the endeavor.

In Foulwater:

In Tap Water Tavern:

Porton Fellblade: kicked out of Royal Guard for disciplinary reasons.

Helped out a dwarven caravan, got a barrel of their finest whiskey. Strength and valor, the guard were cruel and evil, took down a squall in a single swipe.
Dmg: 17+24= 43dmg: 62-43=19 hp left.

Jobs: 500 marks total: Letters being sent to Omac: guards are offering 500 marks alone for anyone willing to live up north for anyone willing to deliver the chest.  Afraid the town of Omac has been taken over by bandits, no communication between the towns.

Redcloth: 1000 marks dead or alive, everyone in his band is worth ten marks.

Karecot shows, insults me:

Martin sees: five men in leather with maces on their sides, ‘singin’ ‘bout in our city?’ Marin attacked! Marin downs a fellah.

1 dmg

Book: paid 600 marks for the books, Gamall cloak, no holy symbols, stains of blood on it: met in an alley near the Gamall church, old man, beard, white hair. Could not see his eyes: same man hired: two days ago, came up to him in the tap, knew of him, ‘one night, watch the roofs, a man will be there: two books. Leave the skin alone: do not blemish the skin.’

29 hp

Karecot has me change things around, helps me clean up the old book, old book reset.  He also gives me a blank book.

5 day journey. 

62 hp

See the island ahead of us, advised to land in the morning:

Tonight, there are things lurking around the boat: gillmocs: gillmoc: scales, bipedal.

57hp

Sand on beach is rocky, the nevarian tries to map out the place. The beach seems to be full of giant crabs. Wuh-oh.

5 marks per pound

62 hp

Lots of abandoned ruins: covered in intricate artworks of four-armed monsters: they look like hoggles:

25 + 14= 39 hp
52hp

Spellbook destroyed by Althalon: No suspicion of Keracot: strange sigil in the book, fascinating.  When awoken, the book is taken and destroyed: suspicion by group of the arcane, blatantly.

Further travel: 3 ppl hiding in the ruins.

We follow them at max speed.

Althos in the front, we follow the tracks to the ruins: one has an arrow in his hand.

Man hiding 200 feet away: gold coin around neck: red bandana, pirate’s outfit with leathers, short sword nice design, crossbow with a  monkey’s head on front form which the arrow fires.

Man on roof: (25 feet up, 95 feet away): walks with a stick: wears piratical robes. Whirlwind appears around his staff, casts at Alhalon: ‘Wind Blast:’ 3rd level spell:

Archer squad pops out

50 hp

Spell from wizard: ball of fire (flaming sphere?): sets the person on fire with magical fire until they put it out.

Archers fire at me: take 1 dmg. 2 archers flub: one has fallen over, the other broke his bow.

49 hp

The wizard runs away.

Dude throws a spear at Marin:

Up top by Althalon’s view: there is a full room with a staircase: statue covered in vines: statue with gems. Covered in a type of fungus that releases a poisonous gas in the air.
2 ambers put in group

Descend into a room 100x14: stone unworn: main room. See below: west exit goes upstairs.

Marin on the bottom view: unworn stone area: pictures carved in: a beautiful girl clad only in seashells.  There are archways to the north, east, and west. 

Know religion: she is “Rayel Inyel Ray” a sailor’s god, she embraces sailors and pulls them into the darkness of the sea.  Hair is tinted blue and always floating, eyes are blue. She does not give much blessing.  Gets her name from an old civilization, discovered by Maradin Stormchaser.

North: shell clad maid statue, in front of it: blood stained altar, opals set in the altar. 10 opals in the base: opal pried out: from under the pressure plate: plop out 10 opals into group:

East: room with oval shaped pool: room. Again with the maid. Bottom of pool: chest with chains on the ground. Place is used as a general base: wizard ran off the top of the roof.

West: goes to roof.

We follow the wizard. We track him to the water. We are followed by monkeybow and his boys.  They have poisoned arrows.

46 hp

Group treasure: we may need the unique short sword for the bounty. We take the leader’s head. We loot the group (10 marks, gold coin), plus 7 pirate’s heads. We have tail blade’s head, we have his unique sword. The wizard can ride the waves. He normally stays with them.  He leads us to a ruined jungle area: we found a hole they dug covered by fallen leaves and ground.  He opens everything for us: 4 chests with 10k bits, a barrel of 3k marks, 3 barrels of ale, stockpile of rations: 10k bits, 3 bails of ale, ridic. stockpile of rations, ornamental jeweled scimitar.

We return to the east room: Water from within the pool is, in fact, murky: missing a boot.

We first send down the Nevarian and then the Ranger (who can swim well), we have him pull the guardian(resembles the portrait of the goddess) back to the surface where Desmond dismisses her.

Statue at the end of the pool cracks and falls after we dismiss the guardian. Chest. They break through the chains.

Rusty chest: 3 bolts, silver chest: book with hammers(?) on it: unreadable. The book has hammer depictions

Tree with gold coin: above it there was some sort of mountain:

300 marks for the fruit

Biggest bid you can get for the crab: 25 marks.

We give all this to the captain.

3 fruit concession contracts sold for 1500 marks (the boot n tackle gets the contracts for 2 years)

We sell off the remaining barrel for 90 marks.

We sell the pure silver chest: 100 marks.

Desmond gets the book of hammers:

100 cp to the elf. 2 copper wedding bracelets. Ambers: 25 marks each, opals: 5 marks each. 

In foul water tap:

We hear of a man who saw a castle in the midlands where ppl walked out were already dead: ppl looked, smelled dead from the area.  He lost a horse there, left the horse. 
Stavalone Castle: noble went crazy, killed everyone in his castle, his wife came back to life, killed hi, enslaved their people.

Wet Hills, North

Porton Fellblade:

Karecot: he took my spells!!!! Note: later.

We sail back to galley: we bring in the bounty

We turn in the unique shortsword.

Get 3090 silver in group, given in 3 gold trade bars worth 100 royals each.

Magnar priests: Gorstal (Guard Captain): Valvar needs trade supplies, they have a chest, not caravan worthy (40 lb chest to Valvar) 450 marks for the journey. We haggle up to 600 silver.

Redcloths: used to off in Omac, recently, Foul Water sent some mercenaries (Porton Fellblade send Redcloth and his crew over in our direction, they came east)

The magic fletcher: they think he’s a human, a really old man.

Travelling to the lightning pass: before we get there: a wagon has been completely turned upside down: a small bag: and a corpse: cold to the touch, frozen solid. The body seems to be sucking the warmth out of the area. Horse prints go off in another area.  In the bag: travelling cloths and a ration: merchant’s clothing: humanoid tracks, going in both direction, fresh horse tracks going off in both directions. The wagon other than being turned over is in perfectly working condition.  We flip over the wagon: looks to be in good condition.
Cold spell?
We travel on down the road, we see a draft horse 300 feet away.
This looks like one of the horses that could have been carrying the horse.  It still has its saddle, it looks like it has been eating grass.  Its back is sore from the equipment.  He brings the horse back to the wagon.  We travel thru the headless woods to

40 dmg

Dropped after being picked up by the chawa

1 dmg

Rest all day with intensive care throughout the day

Ahead of us: a man with a  beard, has a dagger hanging from his belt, munching on a piece of hard tack.  Doesn’t look very rich. He says ‘Gamall Bless, how are you this day, fine travelers?’  he was recently robbed by redcloth’s men just up the path.
The bandits have red cloths over their mouths.

Ahead: big wagon, couple of tents: humans, 2 big chawas with greatswords, mean looking, around a pointy mustached human(?) wears lots of jewelry, flamboyant outfit, matches the description of redcloth.  We’re only a couple miles away…grawls, they are across a small bridge over a ditch, we take out most of the diverse camp, the two chawa bodyguards flee, we knock out redcloth.

We make it to valvar

Langsley is willing to send back for the bounty of Redcloth, he works closely with galley: he has some troubles:

Job offer: escorting a food merchant: a few days past the wet lands into altaris (13), another couple of days into maritus(22), food provided, downpayment plus payment every time a contract is sold, offer 300 upfront, 300 per town.  When a merchant gets food contract in each town. Ancient fletcher is on the way!!!

Thanlo: a skinny merch, purple silks, markings of galley on him, six wagons in groups of 3, each pulled by a squall. Travelling through the wet hills, describes the midlands: dreadful place, going there to get money.  Mostly ruled by the stone kingdom: the beards,
Groups of slaves command the squalls. Squalls trudge along, faster than standard wagon travel: make good pace.  Travel through the night.

Thanlo inspects the War priest: story where he’s heard that in the wet hills, merchants found frozen solid by some unknown force. Finds it creepy and strange. Perhaps the weather radically changes during the night? NOT LIKELY.

The land seems to have a lot more mountains and plateaus, mostly rocky plains mixed with grass and hills. Coming down the road: a little wall of steel: beards standing in the road.  15 dwarves in strange armor with axes.  They pull out large ballistas. I am the axe steelgleam. Each carries a Dwarven heavy crossbow, Steel gleam is in Dwarven full plate.

They are very militaristic:

Two verls appear before Marlin and Althalos

Bink the dwarf: a wandering priest: recognizes my kind ‘pansee’s’

Cordur ‘Silverbeard’ earthforger (lank sympathizer) and Steelgleam interface with Marin

Steelgleam’s a little overanxious for the

We finally make it to altaris:

A human comes out from behind steelgleam: former mayor: Ameritis.

Dwarves taken over the town, compensation, deal worked out: pay us 640 marks for the journey total: 350 paid by this: they got to tear down the mayor’s house.

The mayor paid for the food: they take the mayor’s food: the dwarves treat the humans as slaves.

The stone kingdom doesn’t normally: who is the current king: The Baalkaz (servant of the gods) normally loses his name when he becomes the Baalkaz, one of the oldest dwarves alive.

The Silverbeard pulls out.: silverbeard: also of Casfar.
Steelgleam: dwarven priest of Haglin

Bink: dwarven priest of Casfa (peaceful word)

Two conditions: Bink has dished out money: if the Bard speaks in the presence of the Beard, cannot wear anything in Altaris. If he takes any hostile actions against any of the beards, any form or fashion, every lank in a five mile radius will be killed.

In town: a bunch of naked beards with their entrails torn open: the Silverbeard’s head is piked in the center of town.  Organs are everywhere: dwarves have bite marks on their necks, chew marks.  Squall prints (2) walking all over town.  Cemetery area: all the graves are dug up, three of Thanlo’s wagons are gone.  Squall and human prints, some leave from the graveyard, the dwarves are massacred in large numbers. 

All the equipment on the dwarves was confiscated by Guard Captain Porub Tanner.

Bink left town: the wagons are gone: all of Thanlo’s slaves are dead. Journal of Silverbeard earthforger:

Ranger makes it out about 3 miles, there are disrepaired wagons, the squalls must have been rotting for four or five days. They were our squalls!!!  No goods in the wagons.

Earthforger sent here after karlecalas w/ stolen family treasure (annex, set up a base: attacked by verls.)

This may be the same outpost we might go after: Thanlo

Castle Stavalone: sky turns black, a rotting corpse w/ a tongue as long as a snake, paid the thing a gold, people being found on the roads w/ their entrails ripped out, merchants frozen solid.

We travel to this tower where verls are inside. We wait til night and set up camp.

Verls attack me. I scare them off with my battle cry.

9 dmg

3 dmg

35 ft drop, smell of cooking prok wafts up from below

Bottom: a wooden door to the south. Ronim opens the door for us. 

Hall goes 50 ft. ends in another door.

Circular room: stone table with a skull on it, on the skull is a lit candle: it is a human skull broken in half pieced together with a chawa skull.  two doors east and west:

Ronim cuts through the skull, candle explodes in a bright and loud flash:

Old wide bed: room smells moldy.

In the pentagram: man in a stubble beard with a gray cloak on:

13 dmg

Gray cloak: journal we got from him. 

A black pearl ring, a golden chain amulet, journal of Carleclas

Pentagram:

Smalls stone room where sacrifices can be bled and dripped to the

Leather wearing human bandits???

Political rumors: entire lowland counsel will be convening due to events in altaris: the king will be moving armies north.

All trade is still on: war between the dwarves and humans would be a giant deal (there is no means of defeating the dwarven kingdom)

Thano has started over: he cries when he sees the dwarves.   100 royals note to accompany him.

Gorilagon: a 2 foot tall person.

Thano has 5 wagons, six horses.

On the trail east to al turis: corpses: guts torn out, spread across the road. Every human has their heart torn out. 

Wolf battle:

2 dmg

Passed fort save: the chawas have bow’s.

Pass by altaris, wagon left in a circle.

Humanoid figure runs out of the darkness towards the camp at midmight
Giant monster: 11 foot tall grass skinned creature with wicked teeth, two fat toes on each foot, running towards us: an urik, a forest troll

People are scared, low mood since the terrible attack.

Maratus is only a half day away:  tracks of dead chawas, interesting man: merchant named yehwen: selling various herbs (mandrake root, melladonna, lendrian flowers: stone flowers)

Odd set of prints: something big walked away from this battle:

We go back half a day, we follow the tracks, pick ‘em up, we come across some bones buried in the ground: oversized wolf: bigger than a man wolf, bigger than a horse by its bones ( an arctic wolf) the trail becomes overgrown.

The overgrown hunting path continues where the shrubbery is lighter. Passing by this corpse: whisper in the wind ‘leave go away’

As we travel, it starts getting dark, the canopy starts to block out the sun.  A strange tree near where we were gonna set up. Woman-like tree: unnatural growth for a tree. Set it on fire: cackling ‘thank you: whisp like spirit goes up into the sky: something was released into the world that will terrorize the world for hundreds of years.’

We rest for the night, the dwarf cannot sleep.

We start traveling deeper into the forest: guy picking mushrooms in the woods: he turns around, sees us, he has no left hand:

Foot tall guy with a cat: has two arrows on him. It’too of the Grilgans: lost his fingers to a ravenous cat.

Miniature village carved into the trees, hidden behind brush: ine foot trees with strange: Nokmort: the Grilord, living trees that watch over the grilgans: after the beard came by, they let him into their secret garden, Nokmort found an obsidian orb: the orb has driven him mad, the black moss turns people into trees.  All of his people have been turned into trees: a witch tried to take residence here: he must have a cure: he has gone crazy. The orb is around his neck.  Some of the cooks heard whispers from it: they put nokmort’s formula into this.  He developed arrows that rotted things: a rare flower(elendrian flowers) that he developed them, some call them stone flowers. That gains entrance into the spirit tree which has also been corrupted, the gilsprouts guard the way to the tree. Their people made a bow once: the bow was separated into three parts, sold to various merchants, too powerful for one man: finest creation of the Grilgans: shoot without arrows, cause harm to those, scare beasts. They called him adven’ga, savior of the woods, taught them how to speak the tongue of men. 
Berinda? Perhaps the treasure is buried at the base of the spirit. Treesaver was the name of the dwarf: saved the tree from another beard, died near the forest. Cat might be berinda. 
The trolls come at night. (rakaz)
The spirit tree: ig hulking brutish creatures with long noses and hair covering their body. They go to the spirit tree often and gain entrance.

Two medium sized trees swaying and moving before them: the grilspout  guardians should let us pass (grilspouts are young gril lords) their bark is dead and rotting, their eyes are black.

Confusing trek following it-tu: pleads not to kill nokmor.

Spirit tree: 200 feet tall, 30ft  around trunk, lines drawn in an oval shape: branches leafless, bark is beginning to peel.  The sight of it makes it-tu cry.

Grants access to the depths below: staircase: narrow staircase continues 150 feet down.  Bottom: walls covered in vines: 30 foot hallway: 10 foot wide passage.

7 dmg
9 dmg
8 dmg
22 dmg
40 hp left

Spider attack: we take it down, find a royal

Human tracks, chawa tracks

Underground garden: guano, moss, unnaturally sharp cinnamon. Big, cavernous room.

A garden rests atop a 3 foot plateau, millions of bushes, covered in diamond shaped leaves, ground smells moist and rich: there is nothing like this plant ever seen. Room to move around the garden, can move straight into it.  We come in from the north.

To the southwest of the garden: patch of vegation once again plateaus: aquamarine and blue poppies, scent of kay, ground dotted: rare type of cave spearbat: bats with five pointy legs and a big spearlike nose which they use to suck blood. We travel around this area: another garden: two huge trees with green and red apple: ashes have been introduced to the soil.  We look around, ash trees

Organic refuse in a pit

Fourth garden: solid hill of vegetation, green leafy mass is in the center mass, vast tier in the southern , 20 by 20 of latticework stuck deep in the earth, various flowers very full. Big stone door opposite this. Big enough for a squall.
Fifth garden(south): many amazing sites: dancing plants, rich earth and cinnamon.

A small hillock of filthy hay, rotting, small holes bored into it, two rakes lean into it, a wooden crate is fifteen (humanoid in the crate) feat north of the

The girl in the crate is trapped by nokmor int eh crate for not joining him.  Her tree is at the center of the cavern.  Nokmor killed two men: center of the garden is a grove full of enormous trees: huge tree, four smaller broken trees: huge towering oak, 150 tall, two men hung dangle from a high branch 20 feet up. Four grilsprout guards, out of commission, a sack wrapped in vines and roots. Open the sack: 1000 marks, dented ornamental helmet. (50 marks.)

North east forest: in the  light, the foliage looks black or blue (pine trees covered in moss, odd cacti, other schtuff)

Two full grown eaglebears: they are crazed and frolick: these are sweet flowers: plant is some variant of floresthia (a small yellow) w/in 20 feet of the mound of vegetation: it has gigantic tentacles, a big mouth, living vegetation allows

Ash tree: two really big trees, ground blackened, dimple in a far tree to the south: shaped branch with an orb on the end could fit there.

Crude but explicit drawing: destruction of mankind: a great being of incredible power fell from the heavens.

We head to the southwest
Stone hallway, light emmanates from a door at the end of the hall: hall is 40.  the chamber is diffused with stronger purple light: dias, 8 foot tall altar, giant horrifying tree, dank musky tree, source of the light is a bright purple light.  The stone leading to the altera are free standing: just behind them: two big wolverines.

Battle action:

Remaining hp: 4: near death.

On one of the tree branches: same orb shape: can pull out if you pry it with a stoneworked dagger. Purple candle grows brightly: doesn’t burn, but is very bright. Unnaturally attractive candle:

Two rooms: vestibule, room with tapestries: one on left, one forward. Door forward: large, very big, we go to the normal size door:

Big room: screeching echoes: 5 large bats drop in from the ceiling:

Inside: something demands q’s of chawas: in the room is a squall:

2 barrels of dwarven scotch, a nice horse, ornate dwarven plate, rare woods and ivory = statue. May have been brought in by the horse, kazfar relics, worth up to 100 royals, dwarven full plate worth up to 1000 royals. Small portion. In other room: sound of chawas

Huge four poster bed, nice room with damage. 8 chawas behind the turned over tables w/ barricade: huginahs bellahs: the chieftain may well be possessed…

‘humans, mortals, in the chambers of the sacred gardens… I praise you for saving our lands: ‘grilsprouts come out of the walls.’ Great heroes, I am but a simple  the treasure of the wicked bow… much paid to the giants and to the chawas: much has been vanquished. Only a small piece remains: he pulls out a strange blue colored emerald oval shaped: the craftsmanship is dwarven, blue tint is rare: probably worth 9000 marks.

One readable book: gardening: rest are in an ancient language:  four barrels of black stuff: the antedote for the grilgans: get rid of this for me: powdered black moss.

He moves through the garden area: take 5 red crystal plants: little mushroom: a mimicking mushroom.  Poppies look up and stand up: under the poppies: three small moon stones each worth 25 sp. Goes to the tree with the red apple: 7 apple bombs.  Southwest garden: on the ‘poor man:’ 55 royals, 2 studded emeralds worth 400 e,

Noble man: in foul water:

Lion’s mane: 3 leaves in golden style: