Journal of Sur'leas Greyswithe
Author: Sur'leas Greyswithe, an Advocate
(written on the back of the first page:)
Place/Gathering Discovered: Shadows of a Kingdom IV: The Labyrinth of Night Date: October 2-3, 1009 Transcribed by: Sir Iawen Penn Quick notes to be shared later - Never knew this much odd information would show up and be so disjointed. Most pages stuck together - Another journal uncovered ruins or a maze that flooded out... working in water up to our shins at certain points. water pouring down from 'walls ceiling'. Still don't know if 1) we *are* in East Pointe (the capital of Rivercrest) that's been buried, 2) another place due to some guy's choice (who looks like Uncle Cain but isn't him; mage more powerful/less subtle about it), or 3) literally just an excuse to ransack this place for treasure in which case I hope that werewolf thing bites people in the ass. Goddamn its wet and cold. How to separate these pages and get writing off will be dumb fucking luck. also why are there missing pages Journal of Sur'leas Greyswithe Jul 3rd Hello journal. My name's Sur'leas. My Mom was Raleesa Greyswithe, and I never met my father, though I'm sure he's probably a great cooper or carpenter or soldier or something. I'm nobody important, but you're forced to listen to me because you're just a book. I've got this quill hostage and I'm going to write with it until I don't have anything else to say. I'm told I have a sort of important job, but I barely know what I'm doing. I never wanted to be here by myself, but here I am, and I'm going to write to pass some of the time. My mentor Antorel isn't coming back, and my conversation with Ilwain has confirmed it. My first "final task", I guess. I'd only heard about them before, and I'm not really sure how I'd kill him. It's a bit scary if I ever sit down to thinking about it. My sorcery isn't very good, but my alchemy is better. I've started setting traps around my dormitory and other places, mostly as an experiment to myself. I don't know if they'd ever actually kill anyone. I mean I just got the hang of transmuting down a few weeks ago, but without Antorel here I don't have anyone to give me pointers. Well that's it for now. Going to try for Copper to Iron on a few coins. Random Page, no date saved I know not where to begin, other than to say I'm NOT crazy. Jul 5th It's more dull here than one might imagine, though the Labyrinth of Night provides a lot of exploring. I'm starting to find my way around I wish I knew why he left. He has seemed quite unhappy in the last few weeks, and I wish I had asked him more about it In other news, I'm trying to think of different ways to write my name. I also want a title to the end of it. I miss the Academy, and I'm a bit sad I'll never finish up there. I'll probably be a better mage this way "the something" at the end of it. Jul 10th I heard today than Antorel joined the other side. I wish I knew what went through his mind. He told me these grand stories of the Order, the battles that were fought and won in the name of balance. The good the ancient sages did. Why would he change his mind? I just don't know. Still haven't gotten Copper to Iron. Jul 13th Headed back home. Alone, but not without a few stories. I'm going to try and cook rabbit this time. A minor arcane blast trap shouldn't upset the flavor too much. Jul 13th late Just heard from Ilwain again. Hawthorne caught Antorel using Shadow scrying, asleep in an inn somewhere up north. I don't know where he was headed, but his keystone is dead now, but they couldn't get physically to him. I'm sad in a way, but I part of me is glad he got away. I'd love to talk to him one more time about why he left, and whether or not everything he told me was a lie. Maybe someday. I'm told we can live a long time Jul 14th Finally caught my first rabbit. Magical traps didn't work, but box, a stick and some bait did. So now some frog is going to get zapped by some kind of arcane blast. Maybe I'll learn to cook frog. Took it down and cleaned it. I'm going to try it in a stew, I think. At least I can conjure fire properly. Jul 14th late Strangest experience when exploring more of the labyrinth on my nightly walk. Found a dead rabbit inside the maze, and went I went up to it, it jumped up and screamed "I didn't want to die!" in a high pitched women's voice. It was really somewhat unsettling. Thought maybe I had dozed off or something, but my keystone lead me out as was to be expected. What the hell is in there? July 16th Talked with Ilwain again at my behest. He says Antorel is gone, and is meeting with the enemy now. The mark was removed from the arm, so no one has any idea what he's doing now. Any problem that awakens the spectral, is serious, so I was told to be careful and to keep in touch. He's sent me an incantation for protection against illusions. Many things have been trapped in that labyrinth looking for treasure or secrets. I'm not afraid of being trapped in there, I'm just afraid of my unintended neighbors. Jul 18th Nothing else of note. Going to sleep outside tomorrow. I haven't been resting well in my own bed. I've been using the keystone to open doors into other parts of the labyrinth, and exploring some of the places where I don't think I've been yet. The whole place shifts, but I think I get the hang of how to walk through it. It's like a forest, if the trees could get up and move. Caught another rabbit outside, this time with a paralysis poison. I almost forgot to antidote the body before cooking. That would have been an embarrassing few hours alone. I wonder what the other Advocates do when they're alone for so long? Do they cook? Keep a journal, learn magic, play with carpentry? I don't know. Antorel always said that time will slow if I want it to, but part of me wants it to speed up. Jul 19th I'm going to spend more time deeper in the labyrinth. What could people possibly be looking for in an endless maze of corridors, other than the corpses of people who have come before them? The Pillar is a secret, and those who do know about it know that there's no way to get through the labyrinth without the blessing of the pillar itself, Luna, or maybe tearing apart the world. Who could ever fantasize about whatever treasure they might think lies at the heart of the corridors? Something else has to be in there, or else I wouldn't have seen what I did, and I wouldn't have gotten a warning. Does it mean I need to protect myself, or just sit tight. I've thought a really long time about this. I don't know more than a couple of other advocates by name. It's not like we have correspondence, or share recipes to pass the time. There's a wall of secrecy there that keeps everyone safe, but I don't have anyone to compare myself with. I'm not great with magic, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, and I have no idea how much danger I'm being put in. You can't be sure whether a warning means "stop", or "hurry up". Is the greatest threat to this pillar inside and trapped, or outside and trying to get in. Jul 21 I'm going to leave alchemy alone for a bit. I need to practice some kind of offensive magic for a while. I'm almost there. I have to figure this out; the verbal's really, really short. I think I'm mucking up the arm motion, or the calculations. I'm not sure. I've seen this done to several different objects over the years, with different colors, and different amounts of damage. It's better than taking a good 40 seconds to light a fire at their feet and hope they run into it while chasing me. Jul 21 late Excursions deep in today have found me face to face with a mirror, in the middle of an open room. It was me in the mirror, but my reflection always looked surprised whenever I saw it. I must have passed by 80 doors and turns getting there, and I don't remember how I made it in to that large room. The reflection also watched me. Intriguing certainly, but should I probe more? Jul 22nd You know what is interesting about magical places? They don't have "rules". You could fall into water that wasn't wet, you could find walls that weren't really there, or in this case, you could realize there is no echo. I mean that's strange right. Almost unsettling, like this place doesn't want to tell you anything about itself, even what you tell it to say. July 23rd early Had a dream about that mirror last night, and I awoke in a horrible sweat and needed to write it down. There were a few other things though, but the most important was that Antorel stepped out of the mirror and told me that I'd never make it. That he wasn't proud of me, and that he left me here to die. I still kind of miss him. Maybe it was this that drove him away. Nothing more from the spectral. Jul 23rd Tried to contact Ilwain today to ask him about my dream, but stopped midway through. I feel sort of silly bothering him with dumb concerns, but what sort of magics am I going to find in the labyrinth. I have a rudimentary arcane pulse going, but I can't seem to throw it very far. I'll get it down, I'm sure. Market tomorrow, I'm going to head towards the town to pick up a different spice to cook with. There's only so much one can do with just sage and salt. Eternity is a long time, maybe people acquire a fairly large spice cabinet, that'd be nice. Jul 25 The master wants me to read an incantation deep within the maze. It's some kind of routine scrye to make sure that no one is attempting to bend the magic of the pillar away. I'm terrible at this sort of thing, but I'm good at reading. Antorel made me read the last one, so I remember some of the words... "Arest achelinae..." something something Jul 25 late This afternoon was deeply troubling. I did as the master asked, and took the keystone and ventured deep into the maze. I started to read the incantation as was sent to me, slowly, like I had been shown, when what appeared to be a talking field mouse stopped me. He said something about knowing something I don't know. Completely flustered, I dropped the last page of instructions, and the little bastard grabbed it in his mouth and ran off. I ran after him and heard him heckling me, even with the paper it it's mouth, just out of reach. It was strange to hear this, but he said "The grandmaster doesn't expect you to survive, he knows that you're too weak.", he then darted off into the wall leaving my paper behind. The walls echoed around me telling me that I knew how to get in touch with him further. I finished the spell, and just wanted to get out of there. What kind of spirit is this? I'm a terrible medium. Jul 26 Reported back in both the finding and the normal result of the scrye. Grandmaster told me not to pay it any mind, and to carry on with my duties and investigations as I see fit. I pressed him about who might be left among those walls down there, but Ilwain told me there was nothing he knew of that was down there, and that Anotrel nor any previous agents had witnessed anything. The protection against illusions was still in effect, we discovered, so what I'm seeing is either a deeper delusion, or more than a simple glamour. Jul 29 Against what is probably my better judgement, I went looking for the talking mouse again. I figure there can only possibly be one, right? No mouse, but this time, I've moved up to talking black cat saying something to the effect of "Why are you wandering this maze, all by yourself, so that he can live forever?" Great, just the luck I wanted. Asking what it wants, it started purring, and rubbing against my leg. I'll admit, I had a pet when I was younger, and I do somewhat miss being greeted by the dog. I went to pick it up but it avoided by capture, simply darting away from my grip. A moment later, an it was gone. Aug 4 Today's plan is to work on my studies more in the back room. I'm done exploring for a bit. Going to practice some more with fire. I wonder if it gets cold in here in the winter Aug 4 late It's good to know that the rest of the maze is creeping into the back room. I was sitting down, looking over a few of my books, when what I could only describe as a shadow sat down next to me from off the wall. It finally answered me back when I asked it a question. It said it needed me, and it'd answer all my questions. It said I only needed to fear the unknown, and that the truth is all that I'd need. I told the being I'd think about it, and got up and left back into the domicile. Aug 6 I've taken a few days to think about it. I haven't heard from the Grandmaster, so I can only imagine how busy or mad he is. I've still got my wards on me, so this isn't an illusion or some kind of compulsion. I'm going to go back and talk to the shadow. At least it's somebody, and it's not very far of a walk. I don't know why the shadow hasn't come into my domicile yet, but I'm glad for it. Aug 7 Spent a while talking to the shadow yesterday, for as much as I should be wary of that sort of thing, it was really quite more civil and far less weird. All he would do is answer my questions with more questions. He also said Ilwain only wanted the power of the pillars to himself, and that he's no better than the Dragons and that Ilwain killed his brother when he refused to help him, after the secret was shared with him. There's a lot of questions, and I simply need to ask Ilwain some of the things I was told. Aug 8 Contacted the Grandmaster today. I've never seen him so upset at me. I asked about his brother, and he commanded me never to talk to the shade and leave the labyrinth inhabitants alone. Clearly he's not been entirely truthful with me, and I'm not really sure about this entire arrangement. Antorel must have found or seen something that caused him to leave, and while I don't know what or why, I guess I need to figure it out. Aug 9 Found the shadow again. He was really easy to get ahold of when I want to find him. I think he waits around for me in certain parts of the labyrinth. He knows who Antorel was, but never spoke with him. Apparently he didn't wander the labyrinth as much and he spent a lot of time on the outside. I can't imagine that's a bad thing, otherwise he wouldn't have saved me. The man also told me that he is fighting against "the secret keeper" as he put it. I'm not entirely sure who that is, be he claims he is a trickster who cannot be trusted. Does he mean Ilwain? Or someone else? |
Created by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 03-04-10 06:12 AM
Last Modified by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 02-02-12 08:15 PM