Vall Entry 1

Dear Mother and Father,

I don't know why Mother abandoned me at birth and Father disappeared, or if either of you are still alive, but recent events have impressed on me my mortality. I'll keep a set of journals that can be stored in the event of my death that might find their way to you one day. My hope is that I don't make the same mistake of disappearing without a trace that appears to be so common in my family.

Today was... harrowing. Each moment in serenity was swiftly followed by torment, over and over. The day started with Gron and Dalia, enjoying the relaxing trip with frequent naps to meet the rest of my current family after 5 years apart. However Dalia alerted us to an ambush by emaciated Gnolls. Not too difficult a fight when they were so weak and so few in number, however on my very first volley my bowstring snapped and I took a thrown spear to the chest. Fighting from behind I managed to tie one down while Gron did most of the dirty work. Yet somehow with all my training I still managed to catch a spear in the throat and crumpled to the ground, thank god Dalia was there to patch me up.

We met up with Rudy and Raiel. Rudy is an annoying ass but I still love him like a brother and Raiel hadn't changed much at all. However we soon learned the old man had died while we were away, and was dying even before we left. Following his wishes we went to his tower, I picked the lock on the chest of steel Gron loved so much hoping to lighten the mood with Gron's predictable antics when he found it disturbed but he didn't notice it. When we reached the tower we found that it had been ransacked. Worrying that the perpetrators were still inside I immediately leaped into the bushes to scout ahead which Rudy enjoyed, characteristically incognizant. Scouting the tower’s surroundings with Raiel we did notice the tower was still occupied with roughly five goblins and relayed that to the group.

We decided to sneak in through a hidden entrance to the basement hoping to catch the goblins by surprise only to run into a Chimera’s fire breath that gravely wounded me which was becoming a common occurrence today. Fumbling around in a tight corridor was turning into a death trap. Rudy charged in so had to save him, luckily we managed to kill the beast quickly as another breath would have finished me.

Somehow the goblins were not alerted by the ruckus and we managed to dispatch one yet we foolishly failed to check all the rooms ensuring we wouldn’t be caught in a pincer of goblins. The Library contained many difficult secrets to solve but we eventually managed to piece together that we were missing something. It was an ornamental weapon the goblins had probably taken so we had to clear them out to retrieve it.

Attempting to sneak up the stairs to surprise them I failed to thoroughly check for traps which Gron and Dalia paid dearly for. Not wanted to fight goblins at a disadvantage in the stairs I yelled for the group to run down so we could surround them as they streamed out the door at the bottom but Rudy wanted to run up. Without time to argue I ran up the stairs only to be caught exactly in the situation I feared we would. Unfortunately I managed to break one my swords stabbing at the goblins in such a disadvantageous situation. Enclosed spaces and Rudy were quickly becoming the bane of my existence. I was again wounded with a sword sticking out of my back when Goblins rushed up from behind, coming from the rooms we failed to check. Dispatching one with my cursed dagger I blacked out for a second. Somehow we managed to come out victorious.

This is becoming too long for a journal entry, I’ll keep them smaller in the future but let me wrap this up. Unlocking Gron’s chest resulted in a fleeing goblin being able to steal two of his steel bars and the donkey he loved so dearly. Luckily his lament was cut short by a red glow coming from the direction of the city. We arrived to see the city being set on fire by Astara with a dark figure that bowed to her. I always remembered her as a charming and sweet young lady so I am deeply worried about her.