The shack was in poor shape. Neglect and the elements had taken their toll and the walls were dingy and sagging. Next to it was a partially collapsed shed which had long since given up the fight. No one had lived here in some time.<\/p>\n
The ground around the buildings was covered with large rodent tracks which, of course, peaked Qatana’s\u00a0curiosity and when she heard skittering inside the house it proved too tempting for her to resist. At least she knocked first. When there was no answer, she opened the door—this took some effort because the frame was warped—and went in with Etayne and some of the others close behind. Given the number of tracks on the ground, I chose to stay outside and keep an eye on both buildings from the front. Olmas went around back to do the same.<\/p>\n
I heard but did not see the skirmish.\u00a0Etayne emerged briefly to clean that long spear of hers, the end of which was covered in blood. “Dire rats,” she said with a half-smile when I looked at her quizzically, and then she went back inside without another word.<\/p>\n
People surprise you.<\/p>\n
Old Megus, it seemed, had\u00a0died at her own hand.\u00a0Etayne spent a lot of time examining the remains of her laboratory and had no doubt that there had been a mishap of some sort with one of her experiments. It was kind of a sad discovery. Megus\u00a0had presumably come out here to live in solitude, but that also meant that she died alone\u00a0and no one had noticed aside from her ratling familiar. Not that I approve of what she had been doing. Obsessed with transformation magic, her deformed corpse suggested she was mucking with the process of nature itself; it’s the sort of experimentation that\u00a0taints all of us, especially in countries like Varisia where superstition runs strong.<\/p>\n
As for the ratling, the arcane world has low opinions of these creatures but I am pleased that this meeting did not end in bloodshed and that we were able to part amicably. He was, after all, just defending the only home he has known for many decades, and we were the intruders. There was no reason to fight, and he seemed touched by the offer to bury his mistress. He even pulled out an amazing surprise: Old Megus had maintained an astonishingly detailed map of the Brinestump Marsh, and we made a rough copy of it in order to amend and correct our own. It is amazing what you can learn when you just talk to other beings and treat them kindly. Assuming of course, that they are not plotting to stab you in the back as you leave. (I think it also helped a great deal to have Etayne take the lead, for\u00a0there was a level of understanding with her and Ling that would not have been possible with the rest of us).<\/p>\n
One interesting mark on Megus’s map was the cave, which she indicated with a simple skull.<\/p>\n
“My mistress said that the cave is very dangerous. Even she never went in there, and she was very powerful.”<\/p>\n
Etayne replied, “Your mistress was very wise, and she was right to avoid it. Inside were many skeletons, undead created from the corpses of the crew or passengers on those ships.” Among other things.<\/p>\n
He didn’t know anything about the skeletons. When asked if Megus ever dabbled with the undead, he shook his head.<\/p>\n
“No. She was only interested in life.”<\/p>\n
We told what we knew of the goblin village, the skeletons and their attack on it, and even the faceless stalker and the Warden. We were the oral Swamp Times, delivering the latest news to the denizens of Brinestump. And it turned out he had something to add on these matters, as well.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been to this ship, too, which the goblins made up into a house. More goblins came to it one day and they fought each other.”<\/p>\n
More mysteries. It explained the corpses, answering one question while raising a half-dozen others. Rival tribes? An exiled group? Not that it mattered.<\/p>\n
We were able to walk to the second shipwreck from there which was a pleasant turn of events, but that decaying hulk of a Chelish ship was in much worse shape than the other. Without the benefit of any protection from the elements, there was little\u00a0left beyond the deteriorating hull frame and remnants of its outer plating. A quick search turned up the nameplate which was still intact but severely weatherworn. A few cantrips cleaned it up enough to see a pair of Tien pictographs, and of course, I recognized the name Kaijitsu (I try not to be stupid in the same way more than once). The meaning of the other would have to wait.<\/p>\n
Sarenith 24 (Afternoon, Sandpoint)<\/h4>\n
I<\/span>f it had not occurred to me that we hadn’t searched the entirety of the goblin village, we might not have encountered the Soggy River Monster. Once again, what the name lacked in originality it made up for in technical accuracy,<\/p>\n It was a foul thing and my magic couldn’t touch it, but there were many of us and just one of it, and now it’s dead.\u00a0According to the Sheriff, this was one of the Sinspawn, horrid creatures that were discovered along with an ancient Thassilonian runewell under Sandpoint a few years ago. I remember several long, tense, and (I am not ashamed to admit it) frightening nights when the sinkhole had opened up, exposing the long-buried temple to the world above. We could hear\u00a0unnatural, dog-like sounds coming from within. Eventually, the “Heroes of Sandpoint”, as the town called them (Sedjwick no doubt had a hand in that one), had returned and dealt with\u00a0it. By then, mom and dad had already decided to move. I guess they had had enough.<\/p>\n Why bring this up? For one, it was interesting. For two, as I said my magic had no effect. None. It’s something we were taught while studying the craft as a warning against putting too much faith in spells as an offensive weapon. Some creatures are just innately resistant to mortal magic. Me? I took home a slightly different message, but it will be\u00a0some time before I am able to master the alternatives.<\/p>\n Olmas and Anavaru are fierce opponents. Olmas you’d expect, but Ana? It still astonishes me. It shouldn’t, I realize, but when you know someone as long as we’ve known one another your perspective gets skewed. She was always quiet, kind, and funny, and we had quite a few laughs about her camel (I meant “horse” there), and that’s just how I remember her. I certainly noticed when she went from adolescent\u00a0girl to young woman that-you-do-not-want-to-piss-off, but my head is still stuck a couple of years earlier than that.<\/p>\n She started spending a lot more time out in the wild after her dad was killed. She’d always had this thing for animals and getting away from the city seemed to bring her some comfort. I actually joined her\u00a0on some of her overnight forays into the hinterlands. Once, we event spent a couple of nights trying to catch a glimpse of the Sandpoint Devil after having heard rumors that it had been seen in the farmlands near Tickwood. In retrospect, that was a really stupid idea but I must have felt safe with her around or I wouldn’t have even considered it.<\/p>\n We went to see Sheriff Hemlock as soon as we returned to town.\u00a0I was just as happy to be rid of the ears and head we were required to provide as proof of our success as I was to collect the bounty on the same. While this sort of troubleshooter-for-hire work certainly seems to pay well, it does strike me as being particularly gruesome. It is also a little disquieting that you end up profiting off of someone else’s suffering. We are all several hundred gold\u00a0wealthier than we were before—to the average person, an enormous sum that they will not see in their entire lives—but several less fortunate individuals are still dead.<\/p>\n T<\/span>onight I showed Ameiko the letter. Ana and I grew up with her so the two of us made plans to meet her at the inn before the dinner rush would leave her too busy to talk in private. We were joined by a couple of the others.<\/p>\n At first, there was that awkward moment that comes\u00a0from delivering unexpected news where you are having two different conversations at the same time. But as our story reached the Minkai chest, and then the Chelish<\/em> ship bearing the name Kaijitsu Star<\/em>, I saw the realization dawning on her. We paused to let the news sink in. I was acutely aware of the sounds from the inn’s common room because the one we were in had become completely silent. There was a long pause before Ameiko spoke.<\/p>\n “A Chelish<\/em> ship? The Kaijitsu Star<\/em>? I…I’ve never heard of any of this. It…it doesn’t make any sense…”<\/p>\n “There’s more. A lot more.”<\/p>\n Ameiko looked at me and I continued.<\/p>\n “The footprints led to a cave on the edge of the marsh. Inside, we found over a dozen skeletons wearing Tian Xia style armor. We think they were survivors from one of the shipwrecks, but we don’t know what killed them.<\/p>\n “They animated and attacked as we explored the cave. In a smaller cave next to that was another<\/em> skeleton, also in Tian Xia style armor, sitting on a jade and cherrywood chest, also of Minkai origin. This skeleton was also undead, only…it seemed to retain some of its will and memories. It pulled a sword from its own rib cage, issued a challenge of some sort to Olmas, and attacked.<\/p>\n “We think the goblins had stolen these chests, and that this is how they got the fireworks. And, somehow,\u00a0this person returned as an undead and took revenge. He could control the other skeletons, and they raided the village and took this chest back.<\/p>\n “As for the sword, we identified it with magic and it has a name,\u00a0The\u00a0Whispering Shrike.<\/em>\u00a0It had a loose hilt, and inside the hilt was this letter.”<\/p>\n Rokuro’s Letter (Tien)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSarenith 24 (Night, Sandpoint)<\/h4>\n
![\"Rokuro's](\"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/RK_letter_Tien.jpg\")
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