House of Heroes Northern Board

[Knighted]

A scruffy note is pinned to the board
Uktar twenty-something, 1400 Dale Reckoning, Year of Lost Chips

A cry went up in the evening hours and the city bells rang with great alarum. Members of the Adventurer's Guild of Waterdeep including myself, and other warriors and such like were called to the walls at the Troll Gate, to defend our citie.

On arrival those present saw again that strange mist which heralds the presence of the Unseely folk and their twisted thralls. The mist lay betwixt the outer wall, in which the Troll gate itself sits, and the inner wall that being the last guarding barrier of the city proper.



Gathered there were Guild masters Dorian Orthalas, Gael Lynch, Wyk Whitehorn, Soosh Mieroc and myself Elyas T'almerion, but also many other brave and true soules who stood firm to defend the common folk against the invading fey; Caliope Dirtpaw, Sarenna Ithil and Keryn Tel'Jora of the Lhuvenhead Trading Company; Rako C'atra of the House of Heroes; Cornelius Tauber affiliation unknown, and others of whom theire names do slip from my mind.

As our host stood looking out over the strange fog, the assailants began to pour forth and mounted a great siege upon the inner wall of the citie, such a one as I would doubt was ere seen before in this world.

In numbers uncounted did all manner of beasts and fae stream forth and assault our position; fairies, quicklings and satyrs, shadowy fae archers, mounted fae and tiny fire devils, redcaps mounted on fell steeds. Great twisted trees strode forth from the other side, they walked and cried terrible cries for blood as they swung their scythe-like branches at all and sundry, and yet more magical and unearthly creatures too fowle to recall cried havoc and launched themselves upon our defenses.

All the above named warriors and mages stood firm against the onslaught though many were injured in the intense skirmishing on the outer stairs of that wall, and from the deadly aim of fae archers and other magical attacks.



However, many guardsmen, ill equipped and untrained to face the Terrible foe that fell upon them in great number, fell on that wall, to arrow or killing spells.

At last the melee grew quiet. The bodies of many fae beasts lay upon the field. Yet not a moment had passed when a further cry went up, from the outer wall at the Troll Gate itself. Quickly our small host rushed out to assist the poor guardsmen who from their posts had issued screams and calls for help.

Our arrival was met with yet more servants of the fae, in the form of great giant creatures of the forest. These I have since learned are knows as the Ohancanu, brutal creatures which like all other foes we saw that night, delight in wanton destruction. We set upon them and in short order were able to beat them back.

The shout was given to close the gate which had been drawn open and I among other attempted again and again to hold fast the chain that seals the portal of the gate itself, but through it came more evil being still.

Many further guardsmen were crushed beneath the terrible tread of those fell giants and by the martial fury of other beings sent from the mist which now lingered also out beyond the gate itself, for pouring in through the breach were fey armed with fell blades of darkness, some riding great wolf-like creatures, others assisted by bear companions. Lastly more riders issued from the gate, armed with ice magics and frosty weaponry.

After a time a number of us ventured forth while those with magics or skill on the walls did climb aloft to keep the watch from above. Myself, Rako C'atra and Cornelius among others were looking out beyond the gate, searching for any further sign of an ensuing attack.

All was quiet when a hideous scream went up from atop one of the great stone towers that flies above the gate, and a guardsman who but a moment before had lived as you or I, was seen to slump cold and dead upon the battlements. Silence again reigned but only for a moment when again another scream heralded the end of a hapless soldier's life, this time behind the wall.

Back through the gate our company rushed but none could see the source of the terrible fate befalling the guards, until at last with a stench most fowle and a hideous leer the figure written of upon this board, but seen by few before, was upon us.

The Boogeyman pursued each of us in turn with its hideous magics and leering visage, threatening to stop our hearts for the dread that overcame us.

I will write no further of the battle that ensued with that fell un-being, for it was neither a battle for great tales nor was it a short or simple affair. The whole of our company fed sweat and blood into the fight but near all our efforts to strike the thing fell short of harming it.

At the last when the efforts of my fellow warriors and wizards had depleted its defences enough, and with the aid of the flaming enchantment of Soosh Mieroc's casting, my blade was able to strike true and in a burst of embers, shattered the un-being's fowle breast and broke the life force of its body.



All about the Troll Gate was carnage and the bodies of slain guardsmen mixed in with the twisted beings who had brought them to their unhappy end.

Some of those of us who had stood shoulder to shoulder with the men of the Watch offered to help deal with the dead but their captain was slumped gibbering at the base of the Troll Tower and in time we left him to recover his senses while we dealt with our own injured. Upon return to the city I and Soosh Mieroc informed those at the Watch house in the Adventurer's Quarter of the events of the night and offered our services to return the bodies of the fallen to their families.



Whilst the creatures who oppose us, and indeed that most fowle of un-beings which is their champion or leader, were driven back, and the northern quarters of the city saved from sacking and ruin, the brazen daring of the fey in assaulting our walls cannot go unnoticed. Undoubtedly this was only a testing skirmish and we must now look to work together in putting an end to the continued incursions into our world, lest the Unseely hoardes come again in the night, this time in their full number, and overwhelm what little we can offer to resist them.

Dare, but beware.

Elyas T'almerion
A Master of the Guild of Adventurers
Waterdeep

[jmecha]

Nightal 3rd, 1400 Dale Reckoning, Year of Lost Ships
Source: Pawn Xandos Klaxxan of the House of Heroes

Several of us set out to the Bogs so that the Elven Wizard Keryn Tel'Jora could temporarily close the portal there with a Dimensional Anchor and so the Halfling Druid Birdsong may reach the heart of the infestation to commune with the land to learn the truths of the Fey Invaders. We were Galen Oldeivir, Cornelius Tauber of the Adventurer's Guild, Gael Lynch of the Adventurer's Guild, Soosh Mieroc of the Adventurer's Guild, Birdsong of the Adventurer's Guild, Keryn Tel'jorn of the Lhuvenhead Trading Company, Sarenno Irithyl of the Lhuvendhead Trading Company, Rako Ca'tra of the House of Heroes, and myself.



We encountered numerous Redcaps of varying potency, as well as some mounted on Wyverns, as well as Cold Riders and another Greater Barghest. All and all our march through the Bog was slow as the muck and mire as well as the distortions of the Portal from the Fey Wild seemed to warp time and space it's self. Often various members of our band complained of feeling displaced in both time and space as if they were out of synch with the reality of this world. I myself experienced this several times as I had to cover ground twice to reach a destination or friends and allies appeared to almost blink from existence and reappear elsewhere while I was forced to witness events as if my perceptions were straining against unseen forces slowing them to a halt.

Eventually we did reach the portal and found the Dimensional Anchor to have no effect upon the Portal. The Wizard Keryn Tel'Jora, then spoke of how it is possible to work magics beyond the capabilities of our world from within the Fey Wild. Several of the other Wizards seemed to agree that the unseen magical energy of the Fey Wild was pouring through this portal and into our world. The Druid Birdsong worked her primitive rites and seemed shaken by what she bore witness to through her connection with the lands. Ultimately though Birdsong pointed us in the direction of the Haunted Mansion deeper within the Southern Bog, where she claimed the focus of the energy flowing from the portal seemed to be directed.

[Holy_Rage]

Nightal 5th, 1400 Dale Reckoning, The Year of Lost Ships

Let there be no doubt: where Need arises, Greed answers. And such an axiom I uphold proudly, a banner nontarnishable, pristine and glorious, untouched by the feeble ramblings of the rest of the Mordinsamman. For where the Guiding Hand of the benevolent and ever ravenous Wyrm of Avarice guides his humble servant, I shall spare nor effort, nor blood toll to accomplish his will. A Hand Guiding led us, a worthy host of False Gold followers, unfaithful and blind to the wonders of the Trove Lord, in the Citadel of the Bloody Hand.

Thither, under the shadow of the Mount itself we toiled in halls ancient hewn by the hands and chisels of our Kin, long forgotten and having faded unto Lethe, or as the Humans would say, Oblivion. Their due met is fair: were they all tireless petitioners of the Glitterhell, their names would not lie forgotten, nor would their Halls be jotted down by history as thrice-sacked by vile Orc Hordes. Yet another proof that the Mordinsamman followers are feeble and weak, their meek gods PALING in comparison to Abbathor's prowess.

'Tis I, then, Raldin of Clan Thunderbeard, Thirdson of Clan Thunderbeard, Exalted Servant of the Mountain's Shadow, who brought the host led by the Lackey and Pawn of Fates Ignorant and Irrelevant Xandos and manned by the Half-Woman of Ignorance Absurd Calliope, the Arrogant Whelp Rako, the Twisted Mage Gnome Wyk and Blindbeard Galen in the said Citadel. Long have we toiled and much was vanquished. Throngs of Humanoids sought to rebuke us; vile storms of Unmagic sought to undo us; slimy goblins, full of wroth and filth, sought to defy us from shadow and ambush alike; and vile Sorceries were unleashed upon us, from the twisted maws of Ogre Magi, whose descent unto degeneration is untold.



We battled long and hard; of course, I alone shone, the Living Embodiment of the Jeweled Dagger's cruel bite.



Where the lesser ones failed, I encouraged and rallied them unto a semblance of efficiency. Where they sought to break our foes with blind charges, I tempered them with apt shows of tactical retreat. Where they exchanged words of tarrying, allowing our foes to muster and seek advantage against us, I recalled them to the truth of our purpose and herded their feeble minds unto a hammer strike furious to break them.



In the end we prevailed: and Abbathor the Magnaminous, the Ever-Providing, the Benevolent Giver, allowed me ONLY to be gifted with knowledge precious of the Dwarven Tunnels sought in the Sword Mountains, as copied below:









Such is the Mountain's will; and broken, ruined and twisted all those who oppose its Lord Terrible and Uncaring; hearken to the words of his Exalted Servant and seek salvation in the delving of the Sword Mountains, ancient as the land itself! And in such, we too shall be tempered by adversity, so that our sweat and blood rise to the Mountain's nostrils and match a mere figment of the Glitterhell's illustrious glory! To the Sword Mountains promptly, for the FEY BANE is nigh and my time of glory approaches! Let all bend knee and tremble at the sight of Abbathor's boons: for only the worthy shall bask in them!

SIGNED IN HUNGER OF GOLD AND TOLL OF BLOOD ALIKE.
R.-

[jmecha]

Nightal 10th, 1400 Dale Reckoning, Year of Lost Ships
Source: Pawn Xandos Klaxxan of the House of Heroes

Once more we set out for the Mansion located in the Southern Bog. The Warrior Cornelius Tauber had worked to see the Red Caps culled and dispersed before our arrival, which allowed us passage with far fewer deadly encounters then previous expeditions. Our band was made up of The Hin Druid Birdsong of the Adventurer's Guild, the Wizard Gael Lynch of the Adventurer's Guild, Gnomish Wizard Soosh Mieroc of the Adventurer's Guild, Bard and Ranger Sarenno Irithyl of the Lhuvendhead Trading Company, Elven Wizard Keryn Tel'jorn of the Lhuvenhead Trading Company, Warrior Priest Jed Ironwing of the Third Circle, a Dwarf named Uda, and myself.

Upon entering the Bog the Dwarf Uda was lost to us by the confusing reality warping foul bog fogs infused with the magic of the Fey Wild, and shortly after that the Gnomish Wizard Soosh Mieroc was entrapped in bog muck from which he could not be pulled free and was forced to use teleportation magics to escape. Those of us who remained pressed South through minimal Red Cap resistance augmented by a potent Tombstone Fairy, until we eventually reached the Mansion Birdsong had seen in her visions.



There we sought out the patch of clover the Druidess had prophesied in an effort to locate and obtain the rare Four Leaf Clover that we suspected maybe the Key needed to use the Bog Portal to reach the Fey Wild. Our efforts were relatively unopposed until the clover was plucked from the ground and a Sword Tree came upon us wielding it's branches with murderous intent. Having survived the encounter and now holding the Clover but uncertain what to do with it, we searched the Mansion for additional insight and found horror awaited.



Deep within the filth of the long abandoned fruit cellar we found and fought the Boogeyman who claimed this abandoned place as his own. I do not know what our Arcanists have yet to discover from the encounter or the rituals they conducted after his defeat, but we do possess the Four Leaf Clover.

Now what remains is to decide who will use it to step through the Portal and what their objectives will be on the other side.

[jmecha]

Nightal 14th, 1400 Dale Reckoning, Year of Lost Ships
Source: Pawn Xandos Klaxxan of the House of Heroes

Operation: Fatal Frolic

Mission: Enter the Fey Wild through the Portal in the Bog East of Rasslanter using the Four Leaf Clover, and find a means of ending the Fey invasion into Toril.

Enemy: The Fey come in many shapes and sizes and all of them have proven capable and deadly combatants. We though do not understand why they have been invading and if there is or is not another threat awaiting us on the other side.

What we do know is the Fey we have faced are Evil and Abjurations that protect against Evil have had success in preventing the Phantasmal Killing illusions of the Boogeyman man from being effective.

It is important that every member of the team be prepared to Ward against the various Elemental attacks of the Red Cap Darts, Satyr Arrows, and the storms of the Cold Riders.

In addition every member of the team needs to pack and prepare for prolonged fighting. Wards will be stripped away by both Time and Fey Magics, and we need to be prepared to replace our magics to maintain our combat readiness.

Time: We have no means of predicting how long it may take us to accomplish our goal, nor any way of knowing how much actual time may or may not pass upon the prime material plan while we are within the Fey Wild. We may experince days or rides of exploration and fierce fighting while only hours, days, or years of time pass upon the prime material plane. It is possible that our time in the Fey Wild will be an extended affair and I strongly encourage every member of the Team to carry as much food and water as they can.

Terrain: The Fey Wild is a place of Chaos and Potent Magics. I can not predict with certainty what we may encounter, but from what we have witnessed from Fey Wild energies influencing Toril there is very possible we will have our emotions heightened and possibly radically changed by the Fey Wild.

In addition to this the food and water we find within the Fey Wild maybe tainted and cursed causing irreparable changes to those that consume it.

Civilians: Not every being within the Fey Wild is our enemy and we can not afford to expand resources fighting unnecessary battles. We need to be careful to avoid engage noncombatants and making allies where and when we can. In addition we may encounter captives from our world being held by the Fey against their will, when we can we will see them free and returned to their homes, but not at the expense of our primary mission of seeing the Fey Invasion brought to an end.

TEAM ROSTER:

Pawn Xandos Klaxxan

Rako Ca'tra

Sarenno Irithyl

Birdsong

Keryn Tel'jorn

Gael Lynch
_______________________
_______________________

[jmecha]

Operation: Fatal Frolic

Began Nightal 14th, 1400 Dale Reckoning, Year of Lost Ships
Ended Hammer 7th, 1401 Dale Reckoning, Year of Sheltered Viper

Source: Pawn Xandos Klaxxan of the House of Heroes

Team Members
Birdsong of the Adventurer's Guild
Cornelius Tauber of the Adventurer's Guild
Gael Lynch of the Adventurer's Guild
Soosh Mieroc of the Adventurer's Guild

Rako Ca'tra of the House of Heroes
Pawn Xandos Klaxxan of the House of Heroes

Keyrn Tel'jorn of the Lhuvendhead Trading Company
Sarenno Irithyl of the Lhuvendhead Trading Company



We set out from the Sleepy Dragon Inn in Rasalanter and orientated ourselves for the Portal into the Feywild, armed with Cold Iron. Upon arrival the Four Leaf Clover we had previously plucked from the Southern Bog interacted with the magics of the Portal to allow us passage into the Fey Wild.

United we marched through to find ourselves in the dark and twisted bog we came to know as the Everdark of the Feywild. There we encountered Red Caps and Tombstone Fairies, and a host of violent unseelie fey as we worked to navigate through the twisted mire. We passed a horrific stone keep decorated in the corpses of countless others and numerous twisted stone statues depicting people displaying undesirable traits such as greed, power mongering, unmeasured violence, and other twisted aberrations. We battled forward through the oppressive darkness and thick sludge fighting numerous skirmishes against myriad unseelie fey.

In time we found what appeared to be a cottage surrounded by various wardings meant to keep the unseelie from nearing its structure and the small garden surrounding it. The small cottage was maintained by a pixie who claimed her Master had been on a journey and had left some three hundred years ago, and that she had maintained and would continue to maintain the cottage and grounds until his return. We were welcomed to take refuge in the garden and invited to in time move along to the Twilight through means of a Portal.



We established a watch rotation and took our rest as best we could before moving through the Portal into the Twilight Region of the Feywild. There we ascended and traversed great suspended stone walk ways connecting snow covered mountain peaks and descended to navigated the twisting and turning narrow canyons between. Twilight was found to be a place of endless stone and snow, wind whipped and perilous. It was here within the Twilight that Cornelius Tauber fell in battle.



It was upon a narrow winding path wrapping around and ascending a peak of stone and ice that we were beset upon by numerous fey attacking with well coordinated violence making an effort to slow and halt our progress at every bend in the road. Thorns would hit us with potent magical bombs of Fire, Acid, and Lighting, while Red Caps would spring from their hiding places to wield sickles in an effort to carve through our ranks. It was at one such narrow place upon the path were stone and ice limited our mobility that we became overwhelmed by a trio of Red Cap Elders supported by a bushel of Thorns. The wounds suffered were grievous and Cornelius Tauber's selfless sacrifice to hold the line till his last, allowed us to rally behind him and rejoin the fight prepared to see it through to our victory.

It was after this fierce skirmish that a Quickling addressed us from just outside of arms reach to question why it was we had invaded the Feywild. When we informed it that we had come to see the invasion into our world ended, it warned us the Twilight King does not take well to uninvited guests and that we would need to overcome a series of challenges to reach the King. The Quickling also mentioned that it was surprised that we would refer to the Fey entering our world as invaders, since they were invited. Without elaborating further the Quickling dashed off at an incredible speed.

Together we pressed forward carrying our fallen, and in time eventually reached what appeared to be a village consisting of less then a dozen houses that appeared to be right sized for Thorns and other small sized Fey. Afterwards we eventually reached a magnificent keep upon the highest peak that shimmered and shined in light of an eternal twilight. To enter we had to solve a puzzle consisting of color coordination. Once inside, every room contained a puzzle of varying difficulty and deadliness, all of which we needed to solve or survive to proceed deeper into the Twilight King's Keep, until eventually we reached the Banquet Table.



There we found the Fey King of Twilight sitting at a table that stretched from end to end of a chamber long enough that one could not see both ends of it by standing in the center. Not every chair at the table was full, yet the banquet on display was ample and those who did occupy the sparsely populated chairs were non-other then variations of the horrific unseelie fey that we had been combating for months both upon our world and more recently in their own. With his brightly colored gossamer wings the King of Twilight appeared to be some variation of an elven noble crossbred with a butterfly, and although he did not attack us outright, his words and manners were not lacking invitation for us to pick a fight we could not win against him and his menagerie of disfigured and horrific guests. After enduring the barbs of the Fey King's wits and words, he claimed that not only was he unaware of why so many of his subjects have been fleeing his domain to seek out our world, but he would like us to put an end to it so he may once more have his table and realm as densely populated as it was in former days of old. It was then that he directed us to a Portal adjacent to his banquet chamber that he suggested we step through to seek his Sister who may know more about how and why it is the Fey have been able to escape his Twilight and invade our Home.




Beyond the Portal we found ourselves in the Everbright of the Feywild which stretched out in all directions with bright lush greens and impressively tall trees in all directions. There was no clear trail nor path, nor signs of culture or land marks such as the previous buildings, shrines, and statues we encountered in both the Twilight and Everdark. After marching for some with only our intent to guide us through the forest, we encountered a Sphinx which greeted us cordially and explained simply it was responsible for keeping the unworthy from nearing the Queen of Morningbright. We were challenged with three riddles and after providing the answers to each, we were welcomed to proceed, and marched forward.



As we entered the Morningbright of the Feywild the bright light of the noon time sky of the Everbright, softened into the warm glow of a welcoming dawn. A trail of sorts became apparent and it assended a large hill side and was flanked by occassional statues depicting men and women that appeared to be displays of various virtues such as fertility, wisdom, generosity, and other such admirable traits. Atop the hill we found a plateau decorated with carefully curated flowerbeds along a shore and a great body of water with a magnificent ship at anchor. It was there amongst these flowers and water that the Queen of Morningbright made her presence known to us along with several members of her court. Unlike her brother the Twilight King who appeared to be a twisted noble elf with butterfly wings of gossamer, the Queen of Morningbright appeared before us a Unicorn standing noble and pure amongst the soft glow of dawn and flowers where the sea met the shores of a vast endless forrest.

The Queen welcomed us to her court and praised us for the valiant efforts we had made to reach her. It was explained to us that it was She who placed the Four Leaf Clover for us to find and that due to Her limited ability to effect our world, it took all of her focus and effort to place even that invitation to her world within ours. It was then that the Queen of Morningbright explained to us that the Fey Invasion to our world was never intentional but happened due to a series of misunderstandings and good intentions that had sadly damaged the veil between our world and the Feywild.



It was explained to us that the Unicorns that roamed our world actually served a vital purpose of insuring the veil between worlds remain strong and intact, and that the friendly relationships that had been formed between a some of our world's inhabitants and a pair of Unicorns, served as a distraction from the duties and responsibilities of said Unicorns. It was due to these Unicorns failing to performed their assigned duties that the veil became weakened and members of the Unseelie Court saw such as an opportunity to not only flee the reign of the Twilight King, but an invitation to indulge their darkest desires amoungst a mortal population. It was then agreed that the Unicorns would no longer be distracted from their responsibilities, the veil would be once more strengthened, and the unseelie would no longer be able to continue their invasion to our world.

There remain uncounted unseelie fey who have entered our world roaming free to unleash violence and horrors upon those they can make victim, and there are those of our world who have been lost to the Feywild and pressed into service of the Twilight King, but the invasion has been put to an end. No longer should the Fey have unrestricted access to our world.

The Queen of Morningbright thanked us once more for our efforts to reach her and see the matter resolved, awarded us gifts from her vast treasures, and then saw us delivered back to Rasslanter where our journey had started. All who had entered the Feywild together returned together even the brave warrior Cornelius Tauber who we carried, save one Sarenna Irithyl who chose to linger a time longer amongst the Court of Morningbright.

[Holy_Rage]

Hammer 29th, 1401 Dale Reckoning, The Year of the Sheltered Viper

To the Most Esteemed Master of Greed, Exalted Hoard-Monger, Unhallowed Despot of Misers, His Ever-Counting Watchfulness, Ghaeri Steelaxe,

My Father in Matters Spiritual,

'Tis with heavy heart that I must convene your attention to the following revelations. As you are fully aware, my quest for salvaging the rare and precious cold iron ore veins was nearing its end; for I have received Word directly from our MASTER, a generous revelation to my humble, yet capable self about the location of such a most succulent trove.

I will spare you the details of the fight, for the details are boring, the uninspired lackeys that I were leading were even less colorful than usual and their chaotic, primitive ways of fighting would only create ennui the likes of which I would never dare inflict upon you. Suffice to say that the usual motley crew of the Hall of Heroes, followers of a god whose muscles are bulging, but who is found lacking in ALL other aspects, were capable of downing our debased half-kin: I am speaking of derro, the half-crazed mongreldwarves of the Underdark, whose only interest lies in creating yet ever bigger contraptions making no sense and causing only great pain, least of not all to their very selves. Their maniacal histrionics echoed throughout the depths of the Sword Mountains, passage upon passage painted with their viscera and blood in a senseless display of violence, bearing little semblance of logic or bound towards profit. I watched in disdain as my companions of utility, not choice, mowed their ranks gleefully, burning through their host of precious supplies in their typically simple-minded attitude, whilst I kept "guard of the rear" and spared every single copper piece I could in this gluttonous feast of wasting.

Now, their joy at discovering the cold iron deposits was childish and I supplanted it fully, putting in a display of awe and exuberance! Like a spoiled brat I yelled and prodded them towards the recovery of the shining ore chunks, whilst the -true- treasure lied elsewhere. Indeed, once the derro ranks were thinned, I witnessed with my very eyes a full Gray-Dwarven hunting and mining party. The joyless slavers that they are, the Duergar proved to be much more organized and tenacious and I must blasphemously confide that a shred of dignity shone through their grey, hateful husks. It was there that I took the lead, for truly my brutish companions were fated to fall. Sharing with them a few well placed words of infinite wisdom, their utter blindness was partially lifted and they were able to adopt sound tactics, which ensured the Duergars' downfall.

The price for such a helpful stance was of course the TRUE TREASURE that lied hidden within the Duergar outpost. Of that, you will allow me to hold no description over this most luxurious of parchments, upon which I pen with the finest of inks. For I deign not to reveal that which may fall prey to avid eyes and hungry minds. Upon our next meeting, when we shall feast over Abbathor's Cage and a suitable sacrificial ritual, I shall speak more.

Suffice to say that the fools accompanying me served me well. And via their dedicated toil, I exploited their ignorance and I now relish in the revelations of the Duergar Outpost, which allows me, you, US, to serve our MASTER in ways much more appropriate, refined and efficient.

Keeping the ruse in place, for all Humans care about are flashy magicks and tall tales, I returned to my misbegotten hosts. O, how I hate their bright lights and lacquered, wooden halls. I yearn and lust after dark passages made of perfectly hewn and smooth stone, brass braziers sputtering and reeking with the stench of half-charred sacrifices and broken finery crunching satisfyingly under my steel boots. But endure I do, for the sake of our plan.

I must admit to you, Father, that in these times of wanton exile, even the mind-numbing company of the idiot named Kifeg Cragsbrow seems welcome at times. The axe-wielding ruffian had his own way with the world; his mind was blunt as a rusty pick abandoned for eons untold in the most barren of mines and his table manners were atrocious, in direct parallelism with his wood-elf poor vocabulary, consisting mostly of Human-like grunts and sneers. But many times have we shouted "DARE AND BEWARE" together, entering fray after fray whereupon my tactical genius earned us surprisingly easy victories.

Then I recall his senseless death and realize that his bones returning to the cold, uncaring earth are his only useful input in my endeavors.

The Humans stir anew those days, Father. It is back to the Sword Mountains that I must return with them, repaying the "favor" they did me. If only they knew... At least this time I find myself back in the Shadow of the Mountain, its frozen and wind-battered heights drowning their endless, useless banter in its raw power. Found they have a way to taint even our beloved homelands, ours by right unbreakable: I encountered a tribe of debased Human-like mammals, calling themselves the Sky Pony tribe. Considering myself amused by their antics, I now seek to assist and accomplish the primitive rites of passage of one of their members, a young, bright fool named Em, who is afraid of nothing but flaming axes and growling basilisks. Ha! I was even able to secure one of their loincloths, in a bizarre ceremony of acceptance to their ranks. I am certain that profit lies nearby; I wish to see what the Storm Mountains keep in tow for me while weaving my net of deception further.

Let the Humans toil and strive for what their petty minds order them to. Let them keep an eye ahead of our ranks, certain of their success in securing a most worthy ally such as myself.

Their deaths shall come from the Shadows behind them; the moment they prove themselves -expendable-.

Salutations of Greed and Wanton Hoarding,
Your Student Most Apt and Favored.
Raldin Thunderbeard.