Session: 01 - 14 - Voidherald Arc pt.1
I hazard to think if I have an adequate supply of either words or ink to describe my last two weeks of
travel. Nonetheless, during my last night of debauchery in Waterdeep some two months ago and not so
little wine, I resolved to commit myself upon a great enterprise. I shall compose a great journal of travel
not unlike the one's Volo wrote during his trek across Faerun. Unfortunately, all great books start the
same way...notes. Lots and lots of notes! So I shall begin to document the wonders I shall see and
hopefully I shall not run out of ink.
Not two months ago I was sitting in the Spouting Fish, minding my own business and sipping on a sweet
glass of Zzar with its rich almond smell intoxicating my senses when Harold pranced in all merry and
peppy. He told me he found a map with the location of a portal in Icewind Dale, which will lead us to
world filled with wonder and riches beyond measure.
When I reminded him where his last map led us he told me that this was different. It was an Serpantil
original and that there was no way it would lead us astray or, like last time, to almost drowning in the
city sewers. I can still remember the smell of the stench in my hair and trying to wash it out for a full
month. Regardless, I had been drinking myself under the table for two weeks now and I needed to leave
the city before I ran out of silver and this "opportunity" was as good as any to embellish the pages of my
next masterpiece.
Fast forward two months later after two boat trips and a month long trek through a snow infested
landscape a group of merry idiots with me in tow found the portal. Here is where things get interesting,
or not, if you know anything about human nature. Upon sighting the portal the merry group of idiots
turned on each other thinking that on the other side of the portal stood untold riches. I guess they
thought it was the gate to a vault they could just walk in and out of. Harold was dead before I even knew
what was happening and the rest of them set upon each other like ravenous wolves.
I think I fell through the portal or maybe someone accidently pushed me. In any case, none of them
followed so I think it's safe to assume they either killed each other or someone else killed them. It would
have made a great satire if it were not so stupid of a story. In any case, I hope Harold is in a better place
now and that he finally finds his riches in the afterlife. He was a friendly sort even if he was a tad...well
you should never speak ill of the dead.
For those of you who think this was the strangest part of the story you guessed wrong and while I would
love to describe everything in detail about the dome ran by a magical fish under the banner of the
Knights Radiant I don't have time right now. Instead I have copied several journals of the kind people I
ran into here and who have been living in the portal nexus under the dome as reference. I shall one day
compile it into a single narrative so it flows like a good book but for now I shall start recording my
personal journeys through the portal and outside the dome.
So jumping to today. The fish, that is some sort of guardian spirit of the dome gave the residents of the
nexus a cryptic message: "The truth watcher dome is failing. There is danger of the void herald
escaping. Please reset the binding wards."
I know what you are thinking: why is the fish talking and why the hell are you listening to things best
served on a plate with mashed potatoes? Well let me tell you, in this world of eternal darkness the only
thing keeping the portal nexus alive so to speak is the guardian fish by keeping the night at bay. Dark
things stir in the gloom of the night where the Sun never rises.
We set out eastward to a location the guardian fish provided us. The outside of the dome is in eternal
darkness and travelling with a light source is highly recommended, regardless of your ability to see into
the night. The location was one day away and the journey was uneventful except for the two large
scorpions hiding in some burrows that tried to make a meal out of us. My companions dispatched them
quickly and moved on towards our destination. I got the impression that no one wanted to stay out in
the darkness longer then absolutely necessary.
Near our destination we found a massive crevice of sorts that led deep into the earth down a narrow
ledge. On our way down Jarvis, a big half orc warrior almost lost his balance but quickly regained his
footing. Needless to say, it would have been a sad start to our investigation if he had fallen in and
dragged the rest of us to our untimely demise.
At the bottom of the crevice we found a small ruin of a settlement with a monastery and several other
buildings. A portion of the settlement was enclosed in a dome, similar to the one we came from but
unlike ours it also kept us out of it.
We decided to explore the monastery because it seemed like the central building within the settlement
and we were hoping it would have some sort of clue as to the nature of the place. Upon entering its
front door an abomination of a kobold attacked us with tentacles bursting from its body. Alvyn thought
they were intestines but I can't imagine that can be true given the ferocious blows they would land. Plus
I do not think a book about intestine attacking Kobolds would sell very well. During the battle the
creature seemed attracted to blood and went straight for anyone with as much as a scratch. The beast
was more enduring than a normal kobold but it eventually fell and it did not appear impervious to spells
or swords.
Within the large entrance hall of the monastery we found a magnificent mural, on its ceiling, of a demon
with four large arms in a meditate pose. It appeared to be missing one of its arms. On the far side of the
hall a statue with an inscription read: "Seek to find knowledge where no light shines". I asked Jarvis to
attempt to push it out of the way thinking there might be a hidden passage under it but it proved too
heavy. Blowing it up seemed excessive so I did not suggest that.
Apart from that there was nothing else interesting in the room...except for Wix glowing...a lot. No idea
what that was about.
However, we did find a door behind the statue that led into a back chamber with a staircase leading to a
lower level. Within the backroom we dispatched two more kobold abominations and found numerous
scrolls and books. Get this...they were written in celestial and Furet managed to read the following lines:
"Otwic today faced an inquiry by the monastery elders to elaborate on the nature of his recent
research, however the Truth watcher spoke not a word, as should be expected from one of his order.
The tribunal was not pleased, but there was little even the concerned Light weavers." There was a bit
of confusion on whether the script said truth watcher or truth binder. I think it was a dialect thing.
The staircase from the backroom led us to a series of rooms underground. To the south we were
attacked by ravenous giant rats that almost ate Jarvis who was bravely leading the way. They literally
piled on top him like a swarm and we barely managed to save him. Thankfully Wax managed to kill most
of them with a barrage of spells while Six and Alvyn guarded the flanks. Thankfully Furet and I managed
to finally stabilize Jarvis once the rats were dead.
After clearing the southern chambers and Six falling into some kitchenware we decided not to press our
luck further and decided to head back to the dome. Overall it was a productive trip.