Session 2 (24/2/2020)

We opened with the party tending to an unconscious man's wounds, a man a few of them recognized as the protector of Kazbarrow. Nobody, even those who knew him relatively well, knew the man's name. He didn't wake up, and they left him outside the barrow in relative safety as they headed inside.

After dispatching some twigblights in the entrance and examining a statue of Kaz the Purple, they headed to the left, finding a shrine of Polaris with a large statue of the goddess, holding a glowing orb. Aldor took the orb, and Kel and Lyra scouted the next room, finding it to be full of restless skeletons.

After conferring, they attacked the skeletons and wiped them out. Scouting the next room, they saw a skeletal Minotaur and decided to rest before tackling it. As they settled in, they heard a voice coming towards them: "Vengeance vengeance vengeance vengeance vengeance." It was the guardian of the Barrow, who, upon recognizing a few of the party members, joined them. Lyra nicknamed him Vengeance.

After resting and tending to their wounds, they tackled the Minotaur, with the newcomer striking and taking the first blow, and Oorok killing the undead beast. After vanquishing the creature, the party heard the voice of Professor Reuben von Malakai, exclaiming that he'd found what he was looking for. Aldor rushed in and singed Reuben with his magic, only to be nearly sliced in half by Sigrid. He froze, and they wisely let Reuben, his crew and his captives leave without fighting them further.

After finding a new set of armor, the party headed back to town, Aldor and Kel heading to the church and the rest of the party going their separate ways.

Teldaris date: Friday the 8th of June, 643IR

Aldor Stargazer
'''Dear Diary,

We came across Protector having a nap outside the Kazbarrow today. Which is supppper weird for him because he normally doesn’t nap covered in his own blood and dirt. But hey. Each to their own. I cleaned his wounds and left him a nice note because he is my friend. He didn’t wake up but it seems like he is just reaaaally sleepy. Then we entered Kazbarrow proper, it was super dark and dangerous-looking but I’ve been preparing to come in here for years so I wasn’t scared. I’m big and strong and not afraid of anything. I smacked Darragh when we entered and tried to put some magic stuff on him to help. I dunno if it worked but it was funny smacking Darragh. (Entire sentences are covered in a stain that seems to be coffee) I am a pilot.

​​​​​Kel wields magic like its natural which is super weird. Because it isn’t natural. It’s magical. But its kinda cool I guess. All he does is the same spell though. Which is a big yawn fest after a while. I think its called El Dick Blyat. It looks cool though. Lyra is super awesome with magic but she does something with mean words that I thought she was yelling at me but I think she was actually yelling at the things near me. That seems to actually hurt them. But I don’t get half the things she yells. Like she doesn’t even have a rapier… She is pretty cool either way.

Bjorn and Oorok seem to be reaaaaallly good at smacking things but they kind of suck as war mounts. They are kinda like that pony I once tried to ride while swinging my mace. Full of effort but with very low amounts of effective talent when it comes to allowing me to ride into battle looking sweet. But alone they smack things real good. So I forgive them.

There is a reeeaaaaally big statue of Polaris here. Its amazing and Kaz’s statue is purple and I think they had a special bond. I dunno what it really is but maybe he was like me. Maybe he saw things in the stars too. I wish I could have talked to him. Hey, you never know. I might get to when I succeed with my job.

She gave me an orb, its awesome. I say words to it and it floats and it follows me and it lights my way and stuff. Maybe she is here helping me. That’s awesome. She is a really nice deity. The sceptre is close I can feel it. But not like physically like it’s in my hand but like with my mind feelys. I dunno what it called but I know its there somewhere. ​​​​​​​ … I may be afraid of something. It may or may not be zombies. I may or may not have also ran into them to save Oorok after I did a cool backflip. No one saw it. But it was awesome. It seems like (Ink has been spilt over the rest of this paragraph)''' '''I failed… I fucking failed and I almost died. The stars say things can be fixed but… they are so strong. (droplets of water have obscured the rest of the page)

-      dor

Oorok Tharomarsh
I had him. The kid was right there, and we let him get away. The hell am I supposed to say to his family now?

We headed into Kazbarrow, thankfully the guy there was just unconscious. Someone had done a real number on him though. Looks like it was the large women from Kel's old crew that did it. If this is what she can do to this "protector" I don't wanna think about what she might do to Luke if she gets bored one day. Poor kid can barely protect himself from a rat, let alone a large women with a just as large sword.

We headed further in...I still don't think I'll ever understand what some of these people can do. But I've seen strange things in my time, so maybe this is just my new normal.

Aldor started doing his shoulder thing again. Been a while since the little one climbed onto my shoulders. Felt like things were getting back to how they were. Before all this stuff with Kel and his crew started. Before Aldor started having a panic attack every two minutes...sure hope he's alright.

He just about shutdown when the dead started walking. I've never seen him so unsettled. But, they needed to be laid back to rest. Word of advice, never underestimate how hard the dead can hit. Aldor rushed to my aid quite fast. Can't have been easy for him...been a while since anyone's called me "friend"...I won't forget that.

We went further in, and we heard a battle cry. Just the word "vengeance" again and again. The one Aldor calls "protector" came rushing in, screaming about vengeance and asking what we'd done to the dead. We talked him down and he helped eventually. I don't know too much about the guy...but he knows a thing or two about taking down minotaurs. Can't go wrong with that.

We found the kid not long after...but that guy, the magic one, wouldn't let us take him...not without a fight. And that was a fight I wasn't going to win...fuck!

Whatever I've been doing, whatever I am...its not enough. I couldn't save the kid...I couldn't keep my promise...

Kel'Nazir Shadestone
We finally made it to the barrow belonging to this Kaz fellow just before noon. However my luck went from bad to worse. The barrow, usually sealed with an enormous rock, had been cleaved in half. Only one person I know has the strength to do something like that. Sigrid. The others located what they revealed to be the 'Protector' of the barrow unconscious on the ground and covered in slice marks. Aldor seems reluctant to use his abilities for healing, however he did manage to find medical supplies in a tree trunk so perhaps he has very different powers than I thought. Faith has never been my strong suit.

Pushing on we found more of those strange plant monsters from earlier. Bjorn seems to have no problem taking them down with one blow, he seems to thrive when goaded by Lyra. He's a dangerous force and I am glad he is on our side. His ability to heal others still catches me off guard, imagine the money I could make if I could heal small scrapes and bruises like him!

Being more nimble than the others, Lyra and I decided it was best we scout ahead. That said, she cannot see in the dark and hence made a terrible tomb scout. That said I have never seen a creature be so mocked that it damages its mind either. Scary stuff. I hope she doesn't hate me for using her residence to 'relocate'.

And then we found the statue of Polaris. Now I know Aldor is a strange fellow, maybe has a few screws loose but I have never seen him so reckless than when it comes to anything regarding Polaris. He was drawn to a glowing purple orb like a moth the the flame and in all my studies of magic, the solution is always...always...don't touch weird glowing shit. Lucky for us he didn't blow us up. He also seems to be afraid to face the living dead. Bizarre for a holy man but he has stones, I'll give him that. Perhaps I have been going about this the wrong way. I should ask him if he knows anything about this damned gauntlet, the dream is getting cleared and more frequent now.

The skeletons proved no threat to the combined tactics of Oorok and Bjorn. I don't think I've seen anyone take more a beating than that half-orc. He is relentless. Luckily for us he also seems to have the ability to focus mid combat. I've seen too many warriors fall to bloodlust. He seems to kind spirited for that.

Now I have faced some weird things in tombs with Reuben but nothing prepared me for what was in the next chamber. Sporting two massive golden horns, a half man half beast creature loomed. Then from behind came a most peculiar sound. Vengeance. Vengeance. Vengeance. Getting louder and louder before the angriest man I have ever seen stormed past, completely covered in bandages and lobbed a javelin at the beast breaking off a horn. It charged him too but the rage pushed through and he managed to kill it. 'Vengeance' Lyra has dubbed him. It suits. Turns out the protector of this grove was a tad pissed off about my former employer cutting him up.

Then I heard his voice for the first time in six months. Professor Reuben von Malakai. And I froze. Aldor was nearly gutted and I stood there, a wreck, trying to disguise myself. No bouts of fire, no shaking earth and I did nothing to stop them. We have to find them. I have to find them. They must be stopped. And I needed power to do so. So I turned to the last place I expected to turn. The church.