Xugot's Journal
20th Limestone, MatchedadmiredBuh is training with the other two Pikemen, Tohwot and Thad, under Buqui's watchful eye, and Abba is looking for our dinner, so I have some time to think.
The wound Enure gave me has, for the most part, healed. The question remains, however: why did he betray us? There is no love between the Elves and the Goblins, and their gods are constantly at odds. Enure had no reason whatsoever to make an attempt on my life.
The key to the mystery must be at Balddread. I must return and confront Ngerxung Scorpionslaves, the goblin war leader.
I've asked around, and Ngerxung is well known. Buqui's parents and grandparents both had dealings with him - the goblin must be over a hundred, perhaps two hundred years old if that is the case.
He must know why an elf would side with the goblin overlords. And I will get the answer, even if I have to chop his limbs off to get him to talk.
24th Limestone, EntrancespiritWe have stopped at the lakeside city Entrancespirit, by The Water of Peaks. Balddread is a few days away, and Ngerxung and his depleted army closer every step we take.
I am filled with anxiety.
25th LimestoneA cougar jumped me earlier tonight. I would have seen it, if not for this accursed missing eye. Thankfully, my companions dealt with it swiftly.
26th Limestone, WindsiegeWhile in Windsiege, I had occasion to speak with the resident Pikemaster, Getak. Much like the rest of us, he was once a farmer. This war has turned him into a killing machine.
Again, much like the rest of us.
I wonder how many of us will remain standing at the end of the day.
3rd Sandstone, outside BalddreadI barely have time to write. Tomorrow, we attack Balddread. May all the gods who never answered my prayers hear them now.
Grant us victory. Grant us the answers we seek.
4th Sandstone, at BalddreadIt is done.
We swept in from the north of the fortress. Ngerxung was waiting there, alone. I do not know if he was waiting for us, if he was feeling overconfident in his abilities. Either way, there was only one way this encounter could end.
Klethi and Mapo attacked him first, but he was not the war leader of Balddread for nothing. He was fast - perhaps even as fast as me. His iron whip flashed around with a demon's speed. Perhaps he truly did have the blessing of his dark gods.
Mapo fell first, with a horrifically broken knee. Before Ngerxung could finish her off, I was upon him.
He dodged my sword's swing with ease and continued lashing at Mapo. Klethi headed in behind me while I tried for another attack.
Ngerxung faced me, and took the time to boast. It was all I needed to charge in and knock him over.
In a flash, we surrounded him and leveled our weapons at his unprotected face. Even in his greatest moment of peril, he could still gloat.
"That's a lovely scar you're sporting, human filth," he spat at me. "Was it one of mine that did it, or that elven pretty boy you'd been dragging around with you?"
I raised my sword above his head. "What do you know, goblin? Why did the elf try to kill me?"
He only laughed. "What do you know of the mysteries of the bloody gods? What can you tell of their awful might?"
"He doesn't know anything, Xugot." Abba said softly. "Let's just go."
As I turned to take her advice, I heard a noise behind me. I have said that Ngerxung was fast. He was. He was so fast that before any of the others could react, he was behind me, weapons raised.
Thankfully, I reacted faster.
As we stared at the bloody remains of our nemesis, Buh looked around at me. "What now?" he asked.
"You," I told him, "guard Mapo. The rest of us are going to clean out this hive of filth and evil."
I must set this journal aside for now. I can hear the remnants of Ngerxung's forces coming.
laterWe encountered a squad of human collaborators in the Northmost tower. As we rushed them, the new hammerwoman, Klethi, took a crossbow bolt to the chest and fell.
Abba paid her killer back with a crossbow bolt to the leg. His companion leaped to protect him, but I battered him aside and crushed the crossbowman's chest in with my flail. Another few swings and they were both done for.
The third, an ancient hag with a hammer, now leapt at me. Buqui recognized her, and shouted her name. Gozru Fellseas, one of the oldest goblin collaborators in Balddread. With her dead, the remainder would no doubt lose what little fighting spirit they had.
Once we had surrounded her, it was finished, though Thad's hand had been seriously injured during the attack. He began to slip in and out of consciousness.
Buqui had occasion to display her own prowess. As we were attempting to revive Thad, a thief jumped at Buh from behind. Without missing a beat, Buqui brought her huge sword around and decapitated him.
I took a good look at him. Could this have been the traitor that killed Aslu's wife? If so, then perhaps now his spirit could rest in peace.
We moved south, killing as we went. soon, there was not a human or goblin left standing in Balddread.
It was bloody work, but I can't help but feel we've done some good.
7th Sandstone, RelievedbarWe returned as heroes to Relievedbar, but our work is not yet done. I sent the others out to gather supplies, while I purchased for myself a suit of fine Plate Mail.
It will slow me down a great deal, but the extra protection will be well worth it - for our next target is the great goblin fortress of Spidergrasp.
8th Sandstone, GiftstoodAs we journeyed east to Spidergrasp, we came upon the ruins of the town of Giftstood. There was but a single survivor, an ancient guard who would not abandon his post.
The goblins, of course, were responsible.
11th Sandstone, The Complex DesertEarlier today, one of the Balddread surviors, a guard, set upon our group. The outcome of the fight was unquestionable.
12th Sandstone, outside SpidergraspToday is the day. Spidergrasp will fall, and the eastern mountains will be cleansed.
12th Sandstone, Spidergrasp
We assaulted the temple. Mapo took an arrow to the face, and never got up after that. The arrows began to fly thick and fast, as the high priestess, a shrunken goblin, and her followers began raining bolts down from the Temple's heights.
Yet before we could close to fighting distance, another threat presented itself. An old woman with a fearsome mace and wild hair rushed at us, screaming her name - Snodub Snadurar!
Even I had heard of her. The war leader of the Gilded Dungeon, who had founded Spidergrasp, she was a notorious murderer who took great delight in helpless victims. And worse still, she was a member of our race - a traitor human. It was up to us to end her reign of terror.
I smashed the high priestess in the belly with my flail, and before she could recover, Tohwot and Buh had let some light into her world. This left only the infamous Snodub and her own retinue to deal with.
The bolts from above soon began to take their toll.
As Mapo, Thad, and finally Abba fell in turn, I made my way to the top of the temple, desparate to stop the deadly hail.
After a fierce struggle, I disposed of the goblin priest that had shot Abba, and charged after his partner. With a mighty blow, I crushed her chest in and sent her flying off the top of the temple. Her bolts would trouble us no more.
I looked around. The battle was going against us. Mapo, Thad, and Abba were dead, and Buqui was engaged in a losing fight against another priestess.
I made it to the bottom floor of the temple just in time to see Buqui's opponent finish her off.
I grabbed Abba's body and ran. The thieves who had killed Buqui gave chase, and I set Abba on the ground as gently as I could in order to make my stand. Two strikes, and they fell aside, with the thief fleeing as best as his mauled legs could carry him.
With my enemies disposed of, I left under cover of night.
9th Timber, unknown location
There are no words to express the utter disaster that the attack on Spidergrasp was. Everyone, even Buqui, whose experience I had been counting on, is dead. I took Abba's body back with me to Relievedbar. The townspeople had to rush to my aid; I was on the verge of collapse as I reentered the town.
We had achieved nothing, nothing like we had done at Balddread. Once again, I had been forced to flee my enemies, and this time we had lost everything.
I left Abba's body with the priests at the Sweet Temple and struck out once more, alone.
13th Moonstone, The Ambiguous SwampI have decided to return to Mirrorisland, the home of Enure Twilightsound, the Elf who betrayed me. Perhaps I will find some answers there.
22nd Moonstone, The Jungle of FinsThe wild animals have been attacking me more and more often lately, the closer I get to elven territory.
I wonder...
28th MoonstoneApparently, I'm extremely fast now.
3rd ObsidianIf whatever is sending all of these wolves at me wishes to weaken me, it's not working. With every attack I only get better with this sword.
4th Granite, 202, outside MirrorislandAs I headed into Mirrorland, the guards started shooting at me! I had no recourse but to defend myself.
Bringing about my sword, I hacked the closest guard in the chest. Soon, the elves around me lay dead and dying.
I decided I would have to use stealth to get my answers.
Luckily, the elven guards were lazy.
I began my search for the elf lady Aye. She would know the answers to all of these mysteries. Meanwhile, the guards swarmed thickly around the forest retreat, searching for the mysterious killer.
I must go. They're nearing my hiding place.
laterI...
I don't understand what just happened.
I'd come to Mirrorisland to ask for answers. To find out why Enure had betrayed me.
I blacked out some time ago. I woke up in a puddle of blood, with a backpack full of elf heads.
Thank the gods Quihu never had to see me like this.
They're sending swordsmen after me to avenge my crime. But what did I do wrong? They attacked me first.
Self-defense.
It was self-defense.
What have I been
doing?
8th Granite, MirrorislandEverything is madness.
Everything.
My world is nothing but blood and war. Dead elves all around me. Even a unicorn has joined in the orgy of violence.
This must end. I must flee this toxic forest.
laterI have been pursued.
Aye Edaare, the lady of this forest. I met her in passing, when I recruited Enure. Now her normally straight hair was tangled and wild, and her bow gleamed with sticky dark blood.
She turned her burning gaze towards me. Our eyes met. There was not even a trace of sanity I could see.
"Xugot, was it not?" she said, and giggled. "Xugot Creamsoothed, soothed, soothed, soothed. How are you, Xugot Creamsoothed?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but it appears that she had merely been trying to distract me. She loosed an arrow at me, but it clattered harmlessly off my thick armor.
"Come closer, Xugot!" She screamed. "I only want to touch you!"
She continued firing her arrows, but they bounced off to no effect.
I needed answers from her, but soon it became apparent that I would not get any.
This forest is mad. Mad.
The fight left me broken and battered, weary from the long days of fighting, and running, and hiding.
The thought of the journey ahead fills me with dread, but I must escape from this place.
28th GraniteI have stopped in Shieldvoices, in my country of birth.
I need to think. I need time to rest and recover.
I am an enemy of the Elven nations now. Surely the word will spread.
I must lay low.
11th Slate, GlazeblowingMy wounds are mostly healed, but my mind is still troubled. What happpened in that hellish forest, to drive all of us mad?
What would make a unicorn, normally the gentlest of all beasts, turn on its elven friends?
Why...
Why is there a lizard in my backpack?
I must know.
15th Slate, the Infinite Steppes
I went swimming today to clear my head, but it seems that even the fish will give me no rest.
27th Slate, Relievedbar
I will return to Spidergrasp. Alone.
If I am alone, I have a better chance of getting in.
And that way, no one else has to die if I fail.
28th Slate
I returned to the temple under cover of night, but the bodies of my comrades have been moved. The goblin and traitor dead have been left rotting where they fell. the priorities of the goblin overlords are shocking.
I killed one of the thieves that attacked us as we assaulted the temple. He looked like the one that killed Buh.
As the goblins were occupied, I grabbed three of their prisoners and left Spidergrasp.
2nd Felsite
Casot Adigoto has charged me to kill Snodub Stopmaligned, a goblin recruit. It appears that this is the name of the goblin who killed Thad.
I will gladly oblige her.
4th Felsite
The Western tower of Spidergrasp has been mostly cleansed. The madness I felt in the elven forest has come to my advantage. I only hope it doesn't force me to turn on the children the goblins were using as slaves.
later
I was surprised by a goblin hammerwoman earlier. She managed to wound me in my sword arm. I compromised by beating her to death with my shield.
I must get out of here, and return when I am healed. The hunt for Snodub can wait.
6th Felsite
The town is beset by wild beasts! Could this be an elven retaliation?
later
Apparently, the local administrator likes to fight with his teeth.
The world is gone mad. Something happened when I attacked Balddread, some foul spirit has been loosed. Ngerxung said it best: "What do you know of the bloody gods?"
I know nothing, nor do I wish to. Have I perhaps angered them, that they feel they must turn on the world and display their fearsome might? Is this the reason for the blood fury that pulses through everything I meet?
There is a name I hear at night, in my troubled dreams.
It is a dwarven word, possibly. Certainly it is not of the human or elven tongue.
One word only, that must surely be the cause of all of this trouble.
Armok. 
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Topic: Adventure Succession (Read 16163 times)