Venerikine 13th, 989 IaC
- The party, close on the tail of the lathotas Rampager, made their way through a maze-like glade while following Lambchop
- Erdo explained some of the characteristics of the lathotas, warning the party that getting bit could result contracting the curse
- Moving through the shifting trees, the party discovered some sort of totem covered in strange runes
- Additionally, the group found a hole and a grave, which Kel wished to dig up
- Eventually, the group happened upon a shallow pond, where the lathotas lay resting
- Erdo began to set up his strange bow-like mechanism for driving the spears into the lathotas' thick skin, handing each member of the party a hammer
- A line of fire set up, the party engaged the Rampager, attempting to keep in it place
- The party fought a dirty battle, with both Cora and Lambchop taking heavy damage as the Rampager lashed out against them
- Lambchop and Kel decided instead to target the totems around the pond, but breaking them make the ground quiver, and soon, the party heard heavy footsteps approaching from a distance
- As the group continued to drive spears into the lathotas, a giant, ancient-looking beast of wood and flesh appeared from the trees, dwarfing even the Rampager in size
- Considering turning tail as it seemed like Erdo was about to get merced, the party gained hope when Eliza Millheart appeared from behind them, running down the hillside and smashing into the new beast's body, managing to push it back
- Finally driving a third spear into the Rampager, the beast seemed to cease regeneration, focusing solely on bloodshed as it entered a mad fury
- The group, refreshed by powerful potions given to them by Eliza, laid into the beast, with Cora rending a final blow that brought it down, unable to move
- By this point, Eliza had disappeared into the trees, her clash with the beast taking her away from the group
- Faced with a dying lathotas, the group let Erdo take his revenge for his fallen friend, which consisted of mutilating the body of the beast before eventually cutting off its head with a small dagger
- The group harvested some of the body parts of the Rampager before the body began to move away
- As some of the group attempted to pull back against the corpse, others discovered that it was being manipulated by a floating figure, the same hooded person that the party saw in Rostern - Dark brown, tattered robe, a tall, gnarled wooden staff, two piercing brown eyes, and a glowing green hand
- The group attempted to stop the figure, but it quickly rose above the treeline, dragging the lathotas corpse with it and disappearing into the night
- Left only with a tired and listless Erdo, the party began to slowly head back, exploring some of the other areas of the glade
- Taking a side path, the party discovered an undulating white mass that periodically revealed the iris and pupil of a brown eye, similar to the one growing from the tree in Rostern
- Lambchop touched the mass, which instantly tunneled into his body
- Resisting the mass from entering his head, it instead settled in his chest, opening up as a giant eye, about a foot across
- Kel elected to dig up the grave of "Belanine" as the others investigated what appeared to be the former den of the lathotas
- While the grave seemed to be tended, no plant life grew on top
- Kel eventually discovered a long-ago decomposed skeleton, clutching a strange, trapezoidal medallion with writing in Abyssal
- Steve reluctantly read the writing, determining that its apparently functioned as "part of a key"
- The party began to leave the grove, but not before Lambchop made the earth tremble again by smashing the totem at the entrance
- The party moved on a bit through the night before stopping after Erdo passed out from exhaustion
Venerikine 14th, 989 IaC
- Erdo decided to make his own way home, splitting off from the party after offering them an unenthused thanks
- The group traveled through the forest for the day, attempting to make their way to the fort
Venerikine 16th, 989 IaC
- At night, the party was approached by a tall, masked, lanky man that introduced himself as Soup
- The party allowed him to use their campfire, which he used to make soup out of a giant, cast-iron cauldron
- While he was making the soup, Lambchop poured some of his powdered lathotas horn into the cauldron, which Soup did not object to
- Cora was the only party member who partook in the soup, which was made somewhat bitter by the lathotas horn
- Soup immediately fell asleep after eating
- Wary of the traveler, the party kept a close watch on him through the night, with Kel going up to him and peering through the slit of his mask
- Soup packed up and left early in the morning, leaving behind a small sack of odorless white powder, which Cora took
Venerikine 17th, 989 IaC
- Party bought shit I don't remember at the Weirren Outpost
- Kel bought a shovel
- Steve purchased three books from a traveling trader
Venerikine 19th, 989 IaC
- The group finally arrived in Cloverhall at late night, finding Erdo passed out with Tamidilly Rideonvattle surrounded by empty bottles
- Lambchop woke Erdo to tell him he was back, promptly leaving afterwards
- Kel found Merilann and Glutagg sleeping in the barracks
- The group crashed, tired from their journey
Venerikine 20th, 989 IaC
- Waking up to a morning of no Rorug, the group found Adamine Longshallow at the guild counter, and began to fill her in on the details of their contract
- Adamine provided them with 50 gold each, and informed them they should be getting a ceremony when one of the higher-ups of the guild returned, either Eliza or someone named Darrod Lightvane
- Additionally, the some party members received mail
- Steve received correspondence from Joy Astrosla, who gave him a terribly detailed update on the rebuilding of Steve's old library, the Lunar Referent, as well as a dressing down regarding Steve endangering himself in guild endeavors
- Reading closely into the letter, Steve managed to piece together a cipher written in the margins, translating to "you have something they're looking for"
- Steve began to pen a response to the letter, a list of books and documents he was certain the library once held
- Cora received a letter from a man named "Connor Bramblemoon", which professed an undying love, and that he had located her and would soon visit
- Lambchop received a huge rack of cured venison from a man named Nathaniel, from the Silver Shepherd
- Adamine also told the party of a traveling minstrel show that would be coming through town soon, on the 22nd
- The group spent their day engaged in various pursuits
- Kel conferred with Merilann, who had been doing research on "teeth-related" magical items
- Merilann secretly accessed the guild library (it being against the rules to do so per guild policy), learning of a strange bag of magical teeth that could grant users various powers if the teeth from the bag were supplanted into their own mouths
- The bag has a tumultuous history, but is not thoroughly documented, at least in Cloverhall's library
- There are stories of the bag's power destroying an entire city
- While the location of the bag itself is unknown, the last known user is apparently held in a great prison inside the body of the demigod Alurkhet
- Darrod Lightvane arrived at the guild, awarding the party with the ranks of Claw and giving them their badges to little fanfare
- He warned Kel and Ilryn to be careful in this land
- Adamine had the group flip coins for their roommates as Claws; Kel and Lambchop ended up together, Steve was paired with Ilryn, and Cora was made to share a room with someone named Ayla
- Ilryn discovered a strange, folded note in her locked chest, stating she had something that didn't belong to her
Venerikine 21st, 989 IaC
- Various things I have notes of but can't recall
- Steve ordered a waterproof bag
- Lambchop ordered custom armor for displaying his gigantic new eye
- The party was approached by Cora's new roommate, Ayla Raddock
- She introduced herself, quickly getting on the nerves of some of the guild members
- Ayla managed to convince the group to sign on to a mission she needed help with, soon after disappearing once she collected their signatures
Venerikine 22nd, 989 IaC
- In the morning, the party, plus Merilann and sans Steve, attended the minstrel show, set up in a modest tent in one of the town squares
- Paying two silver to get in, the party took their seats and were harassed by a local named Kaaf Torranut, who was apparently a fisherman
- The show began, offering a modest performance, not enchanting by any means
- Much of the show was comprised of political commentary, particularly satire of the queen
- The show ended in a battle between the queen and her jester, a half-orc that could control fire
- After the show, the half-orc approached Ilryn, apparently an old friend of hers from when she was in a traveling show herself
- The two caught up, with Ilryn learning of the death of a friend
- The party decided to head to the Slug Fisher, with Cora heading back to Cloverhall along with Merilann
- As the group neared the tavern, Ilryn was beset by a man who stabbed at her while claiming she had something that wasn't hers