Llew’s Journal vol 2

(In a far-off realm, on a small, almost forgotten branch of the World Tree, Llew wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings.)
     What is this place? The last thing I remember is being part of a party escorting Marta through the Wood to accomplish something or other. We had gotten to the graveyard…she was speaking some strange tongue… I looked at the book she was reading from…a page strayed and was blocking my view, so I reached up to hold it down…bright flash…falling…darkness enveloped me…then, a small, far off voice, heavy accent, fading into the distance. Can’t make out the words.
     The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of a small room filled with shelves, upon which were rows and rows of books and glass jars and vials of all shapes and sizes, their contents a menagerie of colored liquids and strange items. Suddenly, I was aware of a small man with a thin, grizzled beard, dressed in a shabby brown robe and a floppy, pointed hat asking me how I felt.  I slowly stood to my feet and replied, “I’m not sure. Ok, I guess.” “I’VE DONE IT!” he screamed. “I’ve given you the power to defeat the Gnarthak and rescue the princess! They said I was crazy, well I’ll show them who’s crazy!” “What are you talking about? What princess? What is a gnarthak? Where in blazes am I?” I said. But my questions fell on deaf ears. The old man was lost in his own revels, babbling on and descending into almost maniacal laughter. I decided I was going to find no answers here. I left to explore my surroundings, only to find that, whatever had happened, I had wound up in the shabbiest, dirtiest, most pitiful pile of rocks that had ever been mistaken for a castle. And everyone I met kept mistaking me for someone called Phil. 
     Something has gone terribly wrong, and I mean to find out what. 

The Bones of Vigo

Vigo was slain in town by his own thrall… Everyone was there to witness it. With Titania’s dagger, his enthralled troll stabbed him in the neck. Whatever possessed it to do so, we may never know.

After his death and everyone left the town, I went to investigate the body. A dark miasma began to rise from his corpse as I got closer to it, and eventually his clothes and flesh all completely disintegrated. Oddly enough, only his bones were left behind. I ordered my men to bring those bones to Grey Arrow. My advisors questioned me about it, and even I had no explanation as to why I made that decision.

The only explanation I could come up with was that Vigo’s influence over the Myth Wood was strong and dangerously powerful despite his evil intentions. And with the strange note we received talking about the rage of the titans of Tartarus, this power could potentially come in handy at some point and if we ever needed it again, these bones could be the answer to retrieving that power once more. My advisors give me great insight into the decisions I make, but without the insight and opinions of King Balin and Jarl Elric, my closest companions, I had to make these decisions on my own and hoped that they were the right ones.

I knew that bringing the bones of Vigo into the keep, and keeping them in the Myth Wood at all was a bad idea. I knew that making this decision without consulting the other great minds in the wood, was a terrible mistake. But one thing I knew for sure, was that the safety of the woods was my top priority and is my duty to protect. If I have to call upon a power we tried arduously to destroy in order to protect it, then so be it. I’ll take time to prepare ahead and take great precautions when dealing with such evil. That much I understand and can guarantee for the people.

Not only will I have to deal with having the bones of Vigo in my home, there are always those in the woods who are watching. Word will have spread of these remains being in Grey Arrow and I must take precautions against that as well. His followers were just as evil as he was, but they were loyal and held him in great esteem. No doubt they will try to bring their leader back from the dead.

It’s only a matter of time until the wood becomes a war torn region once more. Whether it be a civil war or war against the gods. No matter what, we will do all in our power to be ready.

Gnome on the Street

As told by Fenik Blackwhistle, the Opinionated

Discovered by Ryn Hawkwind

So, I was peacefully asleep, enjoying a dream not related to those damned mines for a change, when a howl pierced that dream. I slammed awake and realized the Talls that roam this wood during the warmer months had returned. I walked out of my quaint tree home and saw troll Riddick fighting with the Talls, with much hatred and gusto. I was curious as to why the troll was so violent, he seemed so benevolent to us and where the new troll with him had come from. I then noticed that there was a man in dark purple robes, and an evil grin on his bearded face, and they both seemed to be under his sway. That made me rather uneasy, to say the least.

 I made my way to what these giants call King’s Rest, and there I saw a group discussing how to rid the woods of the werewolves, a young general, a soldier, and a thief, a rather odd grouping in my eyes. They were looking for others to join their party, as they didn’t feel competent to complete this task on their own, and went off in search of others. I soon saw them with two more in their party, another general with the legendary FairenGar, and a magic user. Those magic users all look the same to us, fancy robes, magic bag of crap, and they love to make their enemies stand in place, only this one seemed unfazed by the pure white Mythranium around his neck. They went off in search of the werewolf, and I nodded back off, hoping to return to my rudely interrupted dream. I do hope they get these werewolves taken care of……

I was again awoken, gladly this time, as the nightmares of the mine returned, by the same group of giants gathering around the tree in King’s Rest. There was talk of killing someone named “Vigo”, and how this thief wanted to see the person be removed from this land for good. The magic user with the Mythranium necklace removed Titania’s Dagger from the tree, and the thief attached it to his belt, which had many pouches, probably filled with other people’s money. Dirty thieves, stealing from those who work hard to earn their keep. Anyway, they set off in search of their quarry, and my what a band of misfits they were. Mercenaries, soldiers, magic users, generals, thieves, all working as one. It made me smile, to see those of different classes come together. I decided to follow them, as this seemed important to watch, and my nap was ruined anyway.

They went to the graveyard, and tried to lure this “Vigo” into a trap. One of the larger giants yelled something about a “Red Rover”, and asked Vigo to bring it over, or something like that, but this Vigo wasn’t falling for the trap. The thief with Titania’s Dagger and two others left, leaving those in the graveyard to presumably draw Vigo to them. I followed the small group, hoping to see the Dagger used wisely, and shortly after making their plan, the man in the purple robes, as well as some less savory fellows, appeared and killed them. They called this robed man “Vigo” and I started to understand their desire to kill him. He held sway over my Troll friend, and that angered me. The other troll killed the thief, absorbing his energy and making it some sort of magic armor, and picked up the Dagger. I had lost hope in these adventuring giants, and thought their plan had failed. I decided to go back to King’s Rest to try, yet again, to get some sleep. Working during the night to keep this place neat is no easy feat, and makes one weary, so this disturbance needed to be ended somehow.

I was awoken to Vigo yelling something about a deal to be made with the adventuring group as they walked into town. He started to say he would give Gadaren the fabled Dagger, when the unfamiliar Troll plunged it into his back. Vigo’s eyes grew wide in pain and fear, realizing that he had been betrayed, and that his being was slowly fading from these woods forever. The adventurers had no idea what to think of this, as that troll had always worked against them. Then, when they determined that this was indeed no ploy, there was much rejoicing amongst the giants, realizing that their mission had succeeded, though not how they had imagined it, no doubt. Maybe now I can go back to sleep, there will be much cleaning tonight. Blood stains don’t come out of grass very easily….