Journal of Karl Tomsson, Archer and Beastmaster
A scholar, Semiyon Targalig, sends us out on a quest to learn about a certain Tamerlan, into the mountains north of Throal, at 43.07. Besides me, Karl Tomsson the human Archer and Beastmaster, are also Norg the Troll Gauntlet, Dvarim the Dwarfen Weaponsmith and Elementalist, and Dubhan the Dwarfen Wizard.
We tried to get some information about our target area beforehand, however Dvarim and I somehow got stuck in some sailor's bar, singing songs and telling our own stories.
See sunlight reflection of the tower, about a thousand yards higher than us. While debating how to climb up, Dubhan mentions that we could just fly up. It would not take him too much of his energy, but save us some hours of a partially hard climb.
About halfway up, Dvarim spots what can best be described as clouds. Right when Dvarim spotted them, they started to erupt lightning and quickly approached. We immediately landed and began to prepare for the battle, with Dubhan starting to weave his Magic and myself shooting one cloud, knocking it down instantly.
When the clouds came closer, we noticed that they were in fact some twisted elemental spirit. After the winds had calmed down, we reached the conclusion that these spirits must have been tainted during the scourge, as their behaviour was way too twisted and distorted.
These spirits, nay, wraiths, circled us to get our blindsides, split us up, and acted in an extremely coordinated fashion, with one blowing us over and the others blowing lightning through all of us. This was hands down the hardest fight we have ever had. The length and intensity of the battle had us drained physically and mentally. We survived by a hair's breadth.
The one big difference during this fight was Dubhan Goronich's imposing appearance, telling these wraiths off in a multitude of languages.
We carefully ascended the rest of the mountain and made camp to rest up and tend to our several wounds, before starting to examine the tower's ruin. The walls range between not existent at all, and still standing 20 feet high. We find a brass pole, which was what reflected the sun towards us. Also the pole looked brand new, while everything else and the bird bath-looking basin besides him looked weathered or destroyed by hundreds of years of weather atop this mountain.
Dubhan and Dvarim began to discuss the intricacies of Wizardry and Elementalism, when Dvarim proposed looking at it with their actual eyes, instead of Astrally. They did however not entirely decipher it. They only agreed upon it serving for viewing something over a big distance. We also found a closed trapdoor, hidden below some rubble, that seemed to stem from the time the tower was created.
After resting for another day, we descended through the trapdoor. We found a Bronze door with an elven inscription that read
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I can be larger than a man or smaller than an ant, and yet I always weigh the same.
Spawned by fire, I am neither hot nor cold. What am I?
Norg and Dubhan got the answer being
Ahead of us we found a kind of waiting room, with several pieces of furniture, opulent beyond measure, several couches and tables and no exit. To our right was an empty room with a checkerboard floor tiling and an exit opposite the entrance.
Checking out the room ahead of us, the walls were covered in writing in all languages, detailing the legend of Tamerlan. Notably we were all able to read all the different languages, despite not actually being able to read Orkish, Windling, Theran, or all the other different languages. While I only took a cursory glance, Norg, Dvarim and Dubhan start reading and are absolutely captured by it. They barely react to me trying to talk to them, telling me off at most, or straight up ignoring me. I decide to throw my cloak over Dubhan and move him into the middle of the room, away from the writings on the wall. Funnily the only one I, the Human Archer, could actually successfully grapple, was our Troll Gauntlet.
When broken free, none of them could remember a single word.
Looking at the second room I was able to spot some traps on the checkerboard on some of the black pieces. Dvarim quickly crafts the most beautiful pole, even labeled it as "trollish trap detector" and used around 15 minutes of his crafting to imprint his label, out of an opulent couch that we use to disarm the traps on all the black fields. After exactly half the room, the traps switch from the black to the white fields. We safely cross through the room.
Going down the next set of stairs, we find very opulent living quarters, and a massively stocked Library that Dubhan instantly begins to drool over. We spent two hours with Dubhan looking through the books and tossing all to us that he deems worthy of saving. We put them in sacks and place them by the entrance to take with us later.
In the dining room we notice it's actually an enchanting room, carrying all tools of a full alchemy lab. Dubhan also finds a Thread Item on a red necklace.
In the next room is a Research Laboratory. Among some reading chairs and other furniture is a table with two clear jars carrying a shiny metallic substance, looking like something between silver and quicksilver, each half full. We clear a third jar and want to pour one drop of each of the shiny substances into the third jar. As I open the first jar, the metallic slivers pour out and form into a rapidly moving cloud that shredded through our entire group, severely wounding me.
Keeping out of its way is hard within the very enclosed space of this laboratory. Dubhan also got shredded, luckily his boosted armor took most of the heat. The enclosed space did however work in our favour, after I made sure that Dubhan got out of harms way and snuck safely besides me, boosting my sight again, as the Horror lined up perfectly between two stone columns in a doorway. I shredded this Horror with three shots.
Searching the Laboratory and remaining storage rooms we found a plethora of Blood Charms, Healing Aids, and different Magic Items, that we brought to Throal. Dubhan was gleefully talking about a new spell he learned, and that he found a way for us to transport home more goods. With the Lighten Load Spell and some Flying we managed to take all the loot down. Dubhan even brought with him all the difficult-to-make and rare parts of the Alchemy lab. We were easily able to sell a lot. Dubhan and Dvarim already submitted their notes on the Elemental and Wizard Magic to Semiyon Targalig, and I hereby do the same.