It seems that our host has decided that we should be well kitted out for our journey away from this cursed place and so I have taken a look through the armoury they have here and selected a well fitting set of plate mail and a suitable balanced bastard sword. The strange thing is that it feels almost second nature to be wielding this implement and yet I have never trained beyond the long sword. In fact I feel better now than I have before. Curious.

Upon my return to our rooms I overheard a discussion between Tomric and Reggie, our host, indicating that we had slept for something close to two weeks! This does not fully explain my new found vigour and abilities but nothing about this place has made sense so far.

We left in something of a hurry this and made our way down a staircase to a room with a strange whispering voice, oh and a deadly trap which the brave fighter Hassan located in order that we may avoid the same fate that befell the dried skeleton in the centre of the room.

We explored further and before anybody could persuade him otherwisem the impetuous elf Lenquitar was running down a corridor to open a brightly coloured door. Inside he was set upon by several gargoyles, animates tone creatures the likes of which I have never seen before. My companions lept into action and soon I felt myself more ready for battle than ever. I closed for combat and with several strikes of my new sword I quickly despatched one of the beings. Before its body had fallen I heard a voice in my mind greeting me. With wonder I attempted to speak back to it using only my thought and I discovered that the sword given to me seems to be intelligent. It goes by the name of Slade and it has said it serves me by guiding my blows and using my strength to its fullest. I may also use the sword to levitate and Slade intimated that further power may be unlocked. Eager to test myself and Slade I rained blow after blow easily destroying the next gargoyle while my companions worked together to finish off the last two.

This has been a truly astonishing day and I must consider the consequences carefully. But for now we must continue onwards in an effort to escape back to normailty, if anything can be normal again.

I have in recent times fallen in with a band of scoundrels and adventurers whilst I was “seeing the world”. I found myself short of coin and some paying work removing bandits from the area around Hommlet seemed like a superlative idea. At the time.

I am accompanied by people from all walks of life including some half-breeds, they’re not as bad as one might think actually, almost adequate in a fight but their trustworthiness is yet to be confirmed.

We have so far managed to locate and destroy two bandit camps if my memory serves me correctly, we have also assisted in cleansing some foul area of the forest locally and have so far been richly rewarded by the elders of Hommlet.

We now have taken it upon ourselves to cleanse the ruined moathouse of the ancient evil which dwells there and as I write this we are resting up preparing for a new assault. Oh how I wish I had some of the family retainers with me to assist, life would be much easier with men around to life and carry for me so that I may concentrate more fully on my arts - I must see if I can locate any likely lads when we next return to the town. I also look forward to spending more time studying in the library of Elmo, one of the elders who has amassed a not inconsiderable collection of tomes in his time.

Our first destination was to be the closest to Hommlet.  We set out early in the day and travelled by foot.  Along the way we noticed a foul smell in the air and upon approaching a small copse we noticed that some giant spiders had made their home here.  After a brief scuffle in which I must admit I was of little use, being unable to safely cast my Sleep spell without causing one of my companions to also be affected.  Not wanting to look completely surplus to requirements I set to removing some likely looking parts from the bodies of the spider.  I have no idea what I my be able to do with these but surely somebody can make use of spider mandibles!

Upon further investigation, Ravi discovered several coccoons hanging in nearby trees, obviously a store of food for the spiders.  To our surprise one of the coccoons turned out to contain a gnome by the name of Borofin alive and as well as could be expected.  In return for rescuing him he provided us with a small reward and a scroll of arcane magic!

We continued along the road with Borofin travelling with us to provide assistance where he may be able to.  Before long we were ambushed by some overlarge yellow-skinned, red-haired creatures!  Several members of our party ploughed headlong into battle, blades flashing.  I felt that against such overwhelming odds I was compelled to assist and cast my Sleep spell on one of the beasts.  In a tense moment the creature seemed that he was unfazed by this but then he fell to the ground, asleep!  Beside me, Borofin was wielding some sort of wand from which flew balls of pure force that unerringly reached their targets.  After several minutes of battle we had finally overcome the onslaught but a number of us were only barely standing.

[At this point several pages are illegible due to what appears to be blood and soot]

Eventually, the general consensus was to follow the western exit at the far end of the chamber. As the first of our number entered the corridor leading from the room a deep and booming laughter, humourless and full of malice, could be heard. At this we froze in preparation for battle and when it appeared that we were safe we continued. Again the laughter came and after a few people had passed through the corridor Anilis examined the area and noticed a magical effect of some sort embedded in the celing. The laughter was merely some form of audio recording that was triggered by our passing!

We made our way variously through a corridor into some sort of mess room and past a bed chamber. Bren and Hassan were nowhere to be seen at this stage and it seems they must have remained in the main chamber for a while. The room in which we found ourselves had two small rivulets of water running across the room and a number of exits. At the far end was a small chamber with some debris, to the East a door led to a shallow spiral staircase and another corridor to the East returned to the main chamber.

While we were investigating the room Lenquitar entered the staircase and found himself assailed by an unknown foe. With a mighty roar he swung his oversized sword in rage, sparks springing from the imapct with the stone walls around him. It was at about this time that Hassan, who I had not seen cloaked in darkness at the entrance to this room, called out a warning and before I knew it battle was upon us!

I endeavoured to keep cover on both of my friends who were under attack but found myself unable to effectively watch both at once. I took the decision to leave Lenquitar as the corridor in which he fought left no room for assistance and I moved around the room to assist brave Hassan.

With my bow in hand I prepared to line up shot after shot, only to have my line of sight disrupted in the confusion by flaming tables, overturned furniture and the others joining the fray. Eventually I found a position from which I could attack clearly and loosed several arrows into the shambling, rotting humanoids that had attacked us, several seconds later I had dispatched the final two attackers.

By this time several of my companions had fallen in combat, Bren and Hassan were both in a bad way, with Hassan failing to regain consiousness despite Mira’s ministrations. We decided to take the initiative and leave this area, returning to the Helmite clerics at their camp outside the mines in the hope that they may be able to provide assistance with our wounded.

Longing for adventure and a chance to redeem myself in the eyes of my colleagues after my alcholic indiscretions I determined to took the lead in our descent into the dwarf mines we had arrived at after our day’s march.

Alongside Lenquitar, bow drawn, I took the lead and carefully we made our way down the sloping entrance. Behind us came Anilis and Hassan, with Anilis holding a torch to light our way, they were followed in the third rank by Mira and we were brought up in the rear by Thom and Bren.

After mere second sof walking Lenquitar loosed an arrow into the darkness. I questioned his motives and he told me that he had spotted a humaoid figure and reacted on impulse. As we approached we found another dead goblin, the victim of some cruel trap. At the sight of this, small Bren leaped forward and began to examine the ground in front of us, he muttered something about a pressure plate and the trap being a one-time thing. It turns out our short friend has been holding back on us and he does indeed have some experience with traps! I shall remember this in future expedtitions.

We were able to passsafely and the tunnel opened out into something larger, Bren ventured forth and somehow triggered a light which suffused the room in a soft glow and we could finally see the sheer size and majesty of the chamber into which we had entered.

As we examined the room we discovered a number of the Helmite clerics that we had been told about, they are safe and alive. They related to us the tale of their explorations and the gelatinous being they had vanquished through the use of fire. It turns out that much of the network of rooms that lead off from this chamber have some sort of impassable boundary in the form of odd stairs or unopenable doors. Faced with such a myriad of mystery we felt we had no option but to begin exploring for ourselves!

Anyway, I decided to try playing an old school elf magic-user with my mediocre ability rolls.  Good enough to get by but not good enough to excel sadly!  So, armed with a spellbook and one spell per day, Quarion is off in search of adventure!

[ooc]I don’t remember much beyond those feelings and in the morning I awoke in the dormitory that had been prepared for us, partially dressed and with a strange, brightly coloured cone-shaped item of indeterminate use and, even more strangely, the helmet of a local constable - how I came across these items in a village with no standing army I suppose I will never know![/ooc]

I recall that we had made some plans about trying to track down the source of the witch that we had slain, and if this failed we would follow up on the rumours of goblin warbands attacking local caravans from the Far Hills. I will continue travelling with these new companions for at least a short while to see if this new arrangement suits me.

In the morning we gathered ourselves together and made our way north out of the village. We were not long on the road when we heard the cries of what seemed to be a young woman. As a group we acted on instinct and readied ourselves should battle be joined. All of a sudden, the source of the screaming came barrelling out of the undergrowth up ahead closely followed by an enormous boar and his mates! I secured my pack animal and caught the young lady in order to comfort her as she attempted to run past me, the rest of my fellows soon closed the distance and dispatched the beasts in short order.

I determined that the comely young lady should be escorted home to the nearby farmstead where she lived and worked as she was in no state to travel alone. Promptly upon our arrival the situation was explained and Tomric told the farmers that we had no need of the meat from these creatures and that they may want to collect it before the scavengers moved in. I travelled with the farmers to direct them to the battleground and to assist them in loading their cart.

We have been on the road for only half a day and already adventure has found us! Who knows what may lay around the next bend or over the next hill. I must admit to a certain trepidation but also a certain excitement.

Bring me that horizon!

The accents here are so strange compared to my home but there seems to be a number of other outsiders if the mode of dress and the range of voices is anything to go by. In any event, the beer here in the Empty Tankard is frothy and the bread and cheese fill a hole. I have even managed to replenish my purse by taking on some guard work!

Our instructions were simple, we were to guard the local graveyard agaisnt a team of suspected graverobbers who have been working their way across the countryside emptying graves of valuables. Havig been given the mission I, and a number of the other outsiders, took ourselves off for various activities including resting, eating, drinking and scouting. For myself I chose to examine the site before spending some time resting. We were to guard the graveyard overnight and, if possible, apprehend the fiends perpetrating this heinous crime.

The time finally arrived and we made our way up to the graveyard. In lieu of wasting our breath coming up with a plan for a job so simple we took up positions around the perimeter and settled in for a long night of watching in the dark. Before long I was startled into readiness by an elf hiding in the bushes! this was one of the men from the inn who ahd vanished earlier i nthe afternoon. His elf eyes had spotted a strange creature stumbling across the graveyard. Soon my companions ahd also spotted the being and we made ready our attack. The next thing I knew I was being beset by skeletons rising from the very graves we had been set to guard! On all sides I saw skeletons and one of my companions, a young man who I had earlier seen studying his “spellbook” made good on his word and lit the area using some sort of arcane magiks.

After a few minutes of frantic battle we had felled all of our foes including the figure we had first seen, despite her temporary vanshing act! I am looking forward to getting to know some of these people a little better as they seem brave and valiant. It would be most welcome to travel in company for a time.