7 to Verdant Sun, Inalis, 59 days remaining
Let me start this entry in my journal by saying I am blessed with a wonderful friends who look out for me. Their ability to plan a strategy and carry it out is superb. And thank the Morninglord for that! Our mission was successful. We have everything we wanted, and more. Mother is here with us! We found the gear to the Antikythera! Everything went so well.
All day today, we spent our time preparing for the infiltration of the Isle of Yonder. Clio and Briar spent most of their time in the alchemy room and came out after a few hours with some extra climbing potions. Clio and I then spent some time in the library on the ship. We found some lore on the creation of the Emerald Isles and the birth of the Titans – to no one’s surprise, Amalj’aa and Khar’shan were twisted and wicked at birth! The boys spent their time in the training room, and I decided to briefly join them. I couldn’t stand it. I’m not strong like them. Not strong enough to wield a sword, not strong enough to wield a staff like a true weapon, and definitely not strong enough to withstand that man-smell. I’d rather sit in the library with Clio, or in the alchemy room with Briar. They both smell like flowers.
Actaeon informed us when we got close to the Isle of Yonder. Rendu used his mother’s harp to create a cloud of fog around us, effectively obscuring us from watchers on the island. We doused our lights to make sure we were invisible. With the Antikythera, Actaeon found us a route to the island through the fog. We rowed our boats to the shore and hid them as best as we could before we moved on with the infiltration plan.
We first moved through a series of broken ruins from the old Gygan empire, long before Arkelander destroyed the people here. It was eerily quiet here amongst the ghostly remains of a once great people ruined by the machinations of a mad man. The party came to the cliff that Malikos mentioned. I was able to fly up and look for threats while the others climbed using some of the potions that we had. We found ourselves behind a sacrificial altar overlooking the rest of the campus. The large building to the north was the library – Torag, Clio, and Shadow would be going there. The main building was to the south. Malikos indicated where Gaius’s room would be, as well as where the prison was located. That was the destination for myself, Briar, Rendu, and Actaeon. Actaeon, it should be pointed out, was stored inside an amulet called the Beastmaster’s Slumber (a device used to store a person in a state of stasis).
I’ll recount the tail of the prison team first since I know it better.
The main campus looked dangerous to cross through, so we opted to follow the cliffs to the side. It’s dangerous to go this way, but we had to avoid being seen. Once we rounded the corner, Rendu could barely make out in the fog where a set of harpies were located. They were in a cage atop the head of a golem statue, and were effectively the alarm system for the island. Rendu put my hands into position and I cast a spell of silence on them. That gave us about ten minutes to find what we needed to find.
Gaius’s room was within, and all was silent. Actaeon’s scale mail was here, crafted from the scales of Sevatarian. Actaeon went to putting it on while we searched the room. The Antikythera gear was not here. Instead, we found some money, a blue sapphire, and some correspondence from Gaius to Amalj’aa himself. From what we read, there is not much harmony between the League of Storms and the Children of the Night. At least, not when it comes to Chondrus. Gaius really doesn’t like that guy. We also learned that Gaius and his dragon don’t really get along very well. That’s interesting.
After Actaeon donned his armor, we made our way to the prison. The silence spell placed by that rat Chondrus made the room completely quiet, and we raised no alarms as Actaeon dispatched the two guards stationed there. Finding the keys, we opened up each of the prison cells. The first prisoner was an old man covered in scars. He seemed a little delirious and Actaeon had to hold his mouth shut to as to not notify everyone around us. The second prisoner was a man dressed in Ylissean garb. I believe he may have been a passenger on my ship, but I cannot remember. I wasn’t really in my right mind on that ship.
The third passenger was Riesz, my mother. Unlike the other two prisoners, Mother was shackled. I ran to her and hugged her. Thank goodness for the silencing spell, otherwise she would have heard me sobbing when I found her. I believe that my current form – that of Leef – surprised her. She has not seen me naturally since I was thirteen years old. Only Heath saw me like this. We hugged for too long until Briar tapped me on the shoulder that we had to move. I wrote a message to Mother – “Trust me” – and put her into the Beastmaster’s Slumber. She’s so frail now, especially after months of being a prisoner of war. I didn’t think she could climb down the cliffs, climbing potion notwithstanding.
We left the prison just as we heard the harpies begin to screech. They had seen us, surely, and my silencing spell had worn off. We were too late! The group ran outside and I quickly quelled the harpies again with a new spell while Rendu charmed a gygan into betraying his allies briefly. Briar created a spell to hide us and we ran as quick as we could back to the altar.
The library team’s adventure went like this, as told to me by Shadow while we row back to the Gjallarhorn and to safety. Clio and Shadow went invisible to sneak into the library first while Torag came up behind after the coast was clear. They briefly looked at the books before making their way to Chondrus’s room. The first room was full of reckoners all meditating. Torag managed to steal a book from them before leaving undetected. Clio and Shadow found Chondrus’s room. The tiefling was awake and apparently speaking to a demon or something in some kind of communication device that looked like an ornate bowl. Chondrus, not seeing the invisible Clio and Shadow, went outside to investigate.
When he returned, Clio and Shadow were already inside the room, and Torag came in and closed the door behind him. According to Shadow, this took just moments to bring Chondrus to his knees. The servant of Khar’shan tried to beg for his life in exchange for information. Shadow and Clio could not trust him though, and Torag wordlessly dispatched him.
Searching Chondrus’s room, they found the missing gear to the Antikythera, as well as some money, some golden rings, and other letters. It seems that Chondrus isn’t even liked by Khar’shan, let alone Gaius and the League of Storms. What a pity! Such a dislikable character is hated by everyone? I, for one, am glad for his demise. Morninglord forgive me.
The library team stole as many books as they could before they heard the harpies screaming and sounding the alarm. They quickly made their way back to the sacrificial altar, our designated meeting place. Torag and Clio went down first to get the rowboats ready for our escape while Shadow covered the prison group. We met up with him and made our escape. The League of Storms knew something was up, but they never found us as we made our way through the gygan ruins and to our rowboats.
We are rowing in abject silence now towards the Gjallarhorn. Mother is unwell, but she is safe with us now. I’ve only enough time to jot down these notes as we travel-
Gaius is here.