…this time with lemon drops
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Sister Bomia’s Adventure Diary
A Side Trip Is Taken
Rabbitsday 4, Roc Month, Year 25 of the Golden Emperor
Dear Diary,
We are three days out of Weskolia now, and things have not been dull. The road we are following is, in fact, the ancient Great Road. The people of the Weskolian area call it the “Sky Road” due to it just heading right up the Skylifter Mountains.
Our first day was interesting in that once we were past the farmland east of the river, perhaps a 4 hour ride, we found ourselves riding through lines of small hills that went on for hours. Up & down, up & down! It was like riding across a washboard. It was mostly a grassy area, but what trees there were looked like very old oaks. The wildlife was mostly small mammals and birds.
Once we were past the Washboard Hills, we entered taller and more rugged hills. These had more trees and exposed rocks. When we stopped for a break, the horses and mules seemed a bit nervous. While Amella and I tended to them, Halana and Grettin started walking a perimeter.
They were not even halfway around when a large creature, roughly twice the size of a horse, attacked them. Diary, this beast looked something like a Forest Grinth, but the body was more centipede than millipede and the large arms ended with clawed fingers, not pincers. It tried to spit some sort of noxious liquid at Grettin, which only served to get her very angry. She rushed toward it and crushed it’s left arm with her hammerpick. As it recoiled from her, Halana rushed in and laid it’s chest open with her sword. The dying creature spit at her and got her on the leg with a foul smelling and very sticky glob.
I’m pretty sure Halana invented several new curse words just then.
Grettin finished the beast off, then helped Halana to a spot where she could wash off after Olivia applied a potion that dissolved the sticky stinky glob. After a bit, our Amazon was in much better spirits. We rested another hour, then continued on until an hour before sunset. We made our camp at the base of a very large boulder and cast both protection and warning wards. Thankfully, the night passed without incident.
Yesterday, about an hour after we broke camp, we crested a hill and saw to the south a small lake with the ruins of a village and a castle. Well, Diary, as you know, that sort of thing is a powerful lure to those of us who choose the adventuring life, so we headed off to have a look.
We have searched ruins ranging from very large cities to very small houses, so it didn’t take too long to see that this village, and most likely the castle, had been abandoned due to flooding. The lake, though shallow looking, came up very near to the buildings. The dead trees 100 or so feet out in the lake showed us that it used to be much smaller.
Grettin thinks that there was probably some sort of natural dam upstream somewhere and it failed, most likely in the springtime, when rivers run high. The resulting flood probably damaged things badly, then a few more floods made everyone decide to leave.
We did a search of the village, which was probably abandoned a century ago. As is often the case, we found little that was worth anything. Whoever lived there had enough time to load up most of their belongings and go.
The castle was another matter, however, since it contained large items that were not easily moved. As castles go, it was a smaller one. Three stories, not counting the now flooded basement area. The ground floor had dirt and mud at least a foot deep. The only thing of value we found was a golden platter in the kitchen. Amella thinks that somebody shorted the count on the fancy dishes, then could not get away with the platter. She estimates it’s worth at around 50 gold, though a collector of oddities could pay much more.
The second floor rooms seem to have been lived in steadily by birds, spiders and small animals. We found nothing of value, although somebody carved “All lost because of the damned water” on a door.
The third floor was obviously the living area of the royalty, since the first 3 rooms we entered had plenty of large, heavy, and still nice looking pieces of furniture. In the nursery/children’s room, Olivia’s Ring of Magic Detection turned up a small medallion that had a fair level of magic upon it. She will do a more detailed examination of it when she has the time.
The last room we entered was the grand living area of the royals, and it was there that we met a Thrunix.
The Thrunix are a humanoid race, more or less. They are all around 8 feet tall, quite thin, very slender and always solitary. In the 500 years since the first Thrunix was encountered in Lanistra, nobody has seen two together, or even within 200 miles of each other. They do not talk much and they seem to have no concept of fear. If anything acts aggressive toward them, they simply teleport a few hundred yards away.
We encountered a female Thrunix 4 years ago on Lizard Island in Lake Obishon. She had the same rather melancholy look that all Thrunix have. We spoke to her for several minutes, but the conversation was pretty one sided. After a bit, she walked away.
This male Thrunix was no different. About all we found out was that he had been here “a few hundred days” and should be moving on. When we told him we had met a female, he asked what direction she was. Grettin pointed southwest and he nodded and then teleported away. Diary, I would give up a months worth of good meals to be able to have a long conversation with a Thrunix.
By now, we were all hungry, so we repaired to the flat roof of the castle to have lunch. Up there, we found a delightful, if very overgrown, garden. There were many flowers, shrubs, and small trees. Once we made sure it was free of anything dangerous, we had a nice lunch.
We left the castle just after mid-day and rode back to the Sky Road. The end of the day found us in the hills among mixed conifers and deciduous trees, as befitted our increase in altitude. We had a good rest that night.
So, Diary, as I am writing this, our third day is over after a ride that has brought us to the very feet of the Skylifter Mountains. It has also brought us to another break in the road, probably due to soil erosion and the odd landslide. There is a game trail heading in the proper direction, so we’ll follow that tomorrow. For now, ny watch is over and it’s time to sleep.
Sister Bomia Evarain
The Dociverse Blog 