The Journey of My Search - Journals of Seth Siger

[Bassman]

The Discussion of Elaine and my child has come up numerous times since the day I was delivered the lockets of hair, around the halls of the keep. And many suggestions made, every thing from goin into the abyss and how to approach such a thing and survive, to using True ressurection to steal away their souls from the Twisted Overlord Fraz-Urb'luu or his minions. But to use True ressurection it would mean that they would have been long dead, and my search was all in vain. A possiblility, I admit had crossed my mind many times. But I have hesitated to have a Spirit Shaman to search the spirit world for them. But now I feel it would be irresponsible of me not too.

I have been in prayer to Gwaeron Windstrom and been in fasting, to cleanse my body and mind, from that day that I was given the two lockets of hair. I am nearing the completion of my fasting, and now will intensify my prayers and meditations even more. I had been told that thru these means that one may contact their god for their guidance. This is what I seek now, Gwaeron Windstrom's Guidance, as it may be only a god can send me where I need to go, the Abyss.

[Bassman]

Its funny, no, thats the wrong word, strange is more like it. Its Strange how when the pain of fasting subsides how quickly the body refuses to listen. Even the simplest of tasks seem difficult, so I have begun eating again, not much a piece of fruit here and there, and maybe some juice. I noticed a tremblin in my hands the other day, well actually an uncontrolable shake, as I reached for a simple glass of water. So I have ended my fasting and am beginning to eat.

We had a meeting yesterday, first of many I'm sure. The meeting was for all of the order to attend. We discussed the state of things within the order, finished and unfinished business as well. Seems we are to have a structure change , back to the old ways of things. This is Commander Elvina's wishes. I have to admit although surprised, I agree with her. This will mean the promotion of another to Knight General, a welcome relief, as I was bein over come with paperwork. Maybe this will divy out some of the responsibilities that have been set to the side for more important matters.

We were bout half way thru our meeting when I was paid a visit from my friend Hoihe of Candlekeep. He told me that Commander Elvina had told him I wished to talk to him. So I explained my situation with my wife and child. And told him of the options we have thought of so far. He readily offered his help in this, and said he would do some more research for me within the library. He also said he would talk to Mr Wendel for me as well. And before he left he assured me that he would gladly give any help I need in this. Its so good to have friends , that are there when you really need them. And it seems I have many, many more than I ever realised.

*Seth sets down his quill, leans back in his chair, Smiles, and reaches for his glass of Juice which without thinkin Drinks down much to quickly for his stomack to handle. He feels his stomach begin to turn on him. Seth reaches for the trash can quickly, then unwillingly and violently expells the contents of his stomach into the trash can.*

[Bassman]

I know now, four things;
First, Elaine and our child are alive.
Second, they are not the only ones taken into the Abyss.
Thirdly,. Gwaeron Windstrom has heard my prayers, and my faith in him remains stronger than ever.
And lastly whom ever is behind this unspeakable evil, whether its Fraz-Urb'luu himself, or one of his evil minions. Has taken notice of me and wants my soul.

A few nights ago I met with Helena Kamali, Commander Elvina's Aunt. She's a Wychlaran, I am not completely positive what all that entails , but despite her appearance she is very adept in contacting the spirit world. Which is why hesitated and yes even procrastinated in contacting her. I felt in doin so I would be giving up on my love bein alive. But with recent events I just had to know now.

I escorted Miss helena to our traininng room, where she set up her salves potions and elixers around a small fire in the middle of the room. And I gave her a small portion of the lockets of hair that were Elaines and our childs.

Then the ritual began, She spoke in tongues I didnt recognise, then cast some spells I wasn;t familiar with. And soon she entered the spirit realm. She spoke and looked to the empty space all around us. I could only assume it was spirits she was talkin too. After giving advice to a few, what I assumed were spirits, he expression changed. She seemed to look almost worried, and momentarily fell into silence. Almost Trance like.

She then began to speak as if she was narrating a story. It took me a while but slowly I began to realise what she was speakin of , is what happened on my island! She spoke of an army approachin, the one which I saw before I lost conciousness, that fateful day. Then spoke of them runnin to a boat, but not a boat.....They were fooled, mislead, the Boat was actually a portal! A portal to the Abyss!

Just then Miss Helena's face went to one of pain then complete blankness as she fell to the floor. I quickly moved over to her and gently raised her head and tried to get her to respond. I shouted for the Guard to get the nurse. Just as I did, the guard shook his head and a strange grin came across his face. He then, before I could react, quickly unsheathed his sword and plunged it into Miss Helena's body.

I Immediately unsheathed my sword and attacked him, I struck him twice before He boomed "Wait"! I stepped back and replied "you murdered her"! Then a voice came from the knight , but one not of his own. The voice said, "If you give your spirit to my lord, he will let your family go". " Who is your lord?" I asked. The voice ignored my question and said, "All you have to do is fall on your sword." The knight then grabbed his head and screamed "HELP ME".

"Where is My Family?" I demanded. Then his voice changed....almost ......Female? Was it Elaines voice?.... It was!.... Pleading with an urgency...."please SETH HURRY".He then looked at me with an evil smile, " I'll not deal with Evil' I shouted at him! The guards face then went blank and he looked at me as if nothing had happened and asked " what happened?" I then turned to Miss Helena and cast a healing "raise dead" blessing to heal her wounds.

I ordered the guard to go to the infirmery after relinquishin his sword to me, and turned my attention to Miss helena. The guard immediately followed my orders and went to seek medical attention.

Miss Helena was just regaining her senses as the guard was leaving, she told me he was possesed. This I had already surmissed, but Miss Helena was my concern right now. The ordeal was to much for her, her eyes were filled with dried blood and puss leaking from the sides. She could see! She kept askin ," Wheres Ma glasses," when they were right there on her face.

Miss Helena had many questions, and then told me of her experience. After listening I asked her the question I was afraid to have answered." Did you see Elaine?" I asked. "they are alive, dearie" she answered then frowned. I asked her what was wrong? She replied,"They followed the villagers, to the boat.It was..........an illusion. All them villagers, bamboozled." "Bamboozled?" I asked. To which she replied, " Stay with meh now..you know..swindled, whohahed, tricked! It was a portal to the Abyss."

My heart fell into my stomach and Miss helena tried to console me as I said in a saddened voice "then its true" " What is " she asked. I then told her of what was said while the guard was possessed. As I told her I slowly drew my sword , thinkin that maybe, maybe this is the only way. My life for their freedom...... a bargain in any terms. But then I dropped my sword not bein able to fall on it. I cried as I looked up "Gwaeron Windstrom give me Strength!" All the while she was tryin to convince me this was not the way. I looked at her saddened, " I'm sorry I have lil choice, my prayers have not been answered, and I know not a way to enter the abyss other than taking my life."

Then I hear his voice, "You have come to far to loose faith now" A voice that I know is his, Gwaeron Windstroms. No one else hears it but me, I replied out loud "my Lord?" and fall to my knees." Please help me My Lord." I cried out.But there was no answer. But his message to me was clear. This was not the way, there will be another. I must remain strong in my faith and the answers will become clear.

I now know, I need not know the way to the Abyss, My lord Gweaeron Windstrom will show me the way.

Elaine fear not I will be there soon!

.

[Bassman]

* Seth sits down to write his last journal entry before his journey into the Abyss*

As the day approaches, I find myself without sleep. I pray mostly in my free time, to clear my mind. I find myself thinkin of many things, will Elaine recognise me after all this time? Will I recognise her? I dont see how I couldnt, My love for her has remained strong even thru the passage of time and with her absence.

But mostly I worry, about our child. Heh, our child, I dont even know if it is a boy or girl. Such a thing makes no difference, which ever, it is proof of Elaines and mine's love. But for this child never to have known the sunlight, the freedom to make his or her own choices, only to have known life in this evil place known as the abyss. It makes my blood boil. And makes me wonder, what will he or she be like, by my calculations he/she would be almost 11 years of age now. But will He/She be evil after only known such evil for all of their life?

Regardless I will lay down my life for them if necessary, to ensure their pain and suffering comes to and end. And they once again enjoy the sunlight of their home plane, in Freedom.

I know not what comes, so I have written my last will and testament and will leave it layin on top of me desk, in case I dont return.

*Seth notices the Sun begin to lazily rise in the East and writes*

Elaine the day is upon us, Have Faith, I am on my way!

[Bassman]

After many investigations and many discussions. The time had finally come, no more talk , and no more discussions. No more planning and no more delays. We were heading to the Abyss. The investigations Sir Cyrus had conducted were very fruitful, and uncovered many helpful facts. He uncovered who the imposter was and his purpose but most importantly, he discovered which portal to take from the first level of the Abyss. So we set out, to candlekeep, with purpose in our minds, and defiance in our steps. We met Guide Wendel at Candlekeep and he opened a portal for us into the first layer of the Abyss.

We fully prepared ourselves before entering the portal, including blessing ourselves with Greater Sanctuary. Once we were ready, we stepped thru into the Abyss.

The Abyss lives up to its name , as I stepped into this evil plane, its was almost as if the plane itself was tryin to suck away all hope and all sense of purpose from my very soul. And as I looked across the land, if you can call it that, it was completely Barren. No Trees , no grass, no rolling hills, just flat nothingness as far as the eye could see. The ground, air, and sky were almost a burnt greyish shades of orange with tinges of browns to make distinctions with. A dismal place as I have ever seen. Reminds me of the Hells of which I have been unfortunate enough to of had to visit before in my lifetime.

We slowly made our way across this visage of helplessness, dodging the inhabitants as they could not detect our presence. All of us remaining steadfast to our tactic of not engaging in battle unless absolutely necessary. They were not what we were here for, and they were not, but We were the intruders here. We continued our search walking around and dodging the inhabitants, until we came across a sorcerous. She must have detected something of our presence, she began to cast wildly, spells of dispell and Magic missles. All of which , that although landed near but didnt find their mark. Until, one lucky spell found a mark to land on, then we had no choice to engage her and her minions. We readily defeated them, but the damage was done. Our presence was known. Thats when we met him, the demon who claimed that This was his domian.

But before he could order his minions to attack We engaged him into conversation. Which he was surprisingly willing to engage in with us. We tried many tactics of diplomacy with him , but it is difficult to talk with one who deems himself invincible, but we perservered with diplomacy anyways. We tried Humor, no sense of humor this one, we tried logic, his cockiness closed all avenues of logic, but then we tried his vanity and his want for revenge. Thinking back I should have known this would work, for they all fall for this tactic, Demons are almost predictable in this. That is when we told him that it was Fraz-Urb'luu we were after and were only seeking the portal to the 176th layer here. Which he then readily directed us to, and gave us safe passage to the portal.

Once thru the portal, we looked around , and we wondered "had we been tricked?" This was not a forest as we had been looking for. It was but a swamp where even the trees' roots had teeth! But we made our way thru this area and after a few battles remained relatively unscathed. Finally we found a passage to a forest.

Scarwood, Finally, I could feel my hopes soar as never before, I could barely contain myself. We followed tracks until we could hear voices , then thats when we were attacked. It Seemed as if all the Layers of the Abyss had unleashed its fury upon us, for daring to show our faces here. We had many types of creatures, damned, and unspeakable evils rain down upon us. And in the end we prevailed, but not without casualties. So were healed and raised our fallen, and then realised we could not withstand another assualt. Our protections were fading, spells were spent, and Blessings gone.Would we have come all this way, only to fail and have to return empty handed and broken hearts?

Thats when we looked up to the Hilltop , a building! We slowly made our way up the hill, then we stopped when a few people showed their faces. They were tired looking and clothes were in taters.They were convinced we were Demons in disguise. I fell to my knees before them, dropped my weeapon, and told them my name. They didnt believe me, Said I was dead. I searched thru their faces but didnt see Elaine. I asked for her but they wouldn't afirm or deny her there. Again I tried to convince them I was who I am. And again asked for her by name, I told them she would know. Again they still didnt believe me, then when I showed them the lockets of hair, their disbelief was overtaken by astonishment. Then I saw her , I was dumbfounded, even more beautiful than the day I married her. At least in my eyes. I couldnt move , or talk, after all this time, its her, Elaine , My wife. And from behind her, a boy of about 10 or 11 years old peaked out towards me, before hiding behind her once again.As I slowly stood I had no sence of anything around me when we fell into each others arms.

I could have remained there, in her arms, the rest of my life and been content, but this was no time for reunions. They feared an undead Dragon which had been harrassing and chasing them would come. So we quickly opened a Gate and stepped thru to the Keep, and Our home plane. We got the survivors, Elaine, our son, and our party thru the gate when something followed us thru just as we were closing the gate. We defeated this minion quickly and closed the gate.

Now I have my family back, but there are still unanswered questions, that linger in my mind, the one that stands most in my mind, " Which Demon wished to possess my soul, by tryin to get me to kill myself, and why did he want mine?"

[Bassman]

Its been several months now, since I walked my wife and our son to the docks in the city. I received word that they arrived in Neverwinter safely and without incident. It seems that what we, as mortals, wish for and live our lives for, is not always as we would dream it to be.

For a decade I dreamed of finding my wife and our child. Been thru many lands, down many paths. And I never once doubted my path. Gwaeron Windstrom's teachings were as true to me , as the path I endeavored to follow. And now I have been blessed to find the ones I so desperately sought. But........

As so many things in life, be careful of your dreams, make sure they have a foothold in the reality we live.

Ten years is a very long time, and so it seems for me and my wife, too long. The Abyss is a brutal place to survive alone, with child, and without hope of escape. And with time she found herself turning to another for comfort and support. I hold no blame, for she was in an impossible situation.

We tried to live as man and wife, but just wasnt possible. Her heart belonged to another. And so I released her from her vows to me. And with all the strife and violence in this region, agreed that Neverwinter would be a place better suited to raise our son.

So she, her friend, and our son now live in Neverwinter, but I remain behind. As my responsibilities lie here.

And now I will write nor say anymore on the before mentioned subject, except to say, I wish them happiness and peace.

[Bassman]

What I failed to mention in my earlier entry is my temptations. There were many with the before mentioned situation, especially when the truth finally came out. I would turn to Gwaeron's Windstroms teachings for guidance, but found little help there. So I would turn to prayer, and I would find myself just thinkin of the same violence towards her friend. It was the code of conduct I turned to that helped me thru this. And with all the temptations I have endured since........except one.

There is one temptation I have, one I dare not talk about. One that if found out, well, could have very dire consequences. So this will remain a secret, and remain unspoken. As long as my Will remains strong this Temptation will remain hidden.

[Bassman]

As I sit at my desk, and pick up my quill to write. I can feel the effects from yesterday. I still smell of burnt sulfur and hair, and I ache to the core of my bones. Our journey to the Underdark was not an easy one. Here's how the day unfolded......

I was standing in front of the keep talking with Lady Gina, Squires Missy and Aaron, and a woman who barely spoke common. We were having a very difficult time communicating with her, she seemed to be under the impression that Lady Gina and I were Married and the OSR keep was our home, *chuckles to himself* A misinterpetation we were trying to correct when Durin came running up with Urgent news. The EDE elven were missing. They had gone into the Underdark in search for an ingrediant for a cure to a poison that Laisren had contracted.

Durin asked for our help in creating a rescue party to search for them for them. I admit the thought of goin into the Underdark intrigued me. This is one place in this land I have not been before. As Durin explained the circumstances Master Rev approached and listened in as well. I looked around to all the faces listening, and without the commander present , knew I wqould have to decide on whether this warranted goin into the forbidden area. But as these were allies of ours and we have fought and bleed together many times during the Black Orc war, the decision was easy. So we prepared ourselves and headed for Durlags Tower.

Several of us knew where the entrance was but none really had entered before, except two. A man by the name of Perin and Deacon. They were our guides. I was well aware of some of the dangers and we all blessed ourselves against Fire and the cold.

We traveled thru Durlags without any trouble, and entered the caverns of fire thru the basement. The heat, well, has the intensity of a red hot poker that constantly pokes at you.Except at a thousand fold. Once thru the Fire caverns, we entered a place that was filled with Fire Salamanders. With the large group we had these werent not much a problem, until we came across a Golem that was made of Magma. But with seven or eight people attackin it , it too fell fairly quickly. We then made our way to the Maze.

The Maze, it is just what it sounds like, a Maze. I dont know what kind of twisted mind would think of a place such as this, but it had portals and shadow doors everywhere the eye could see. These shadow doors would trasnsport you well to almost anywhere within the maze. I directed everyone to stay close to each other, but it wasnt long before three of our party members got seperated. Soon as Rev and Myself saw this we stopped in our tracks, and yelled ahead thru the shadow door of our problem. then the others ahead of us stopped as well. We waited for them to find us, as is the only thing you can do in such a situation. Which eventually they did and we rejoined the party. And had no more such problems during our trip in.

As we continued along we found several of the fallen and picked them up as we continued. Until we reached the Underdark itself. Thats when we knew we had come too far. We took note of the fallen we had picked up along the way and we were missing several. So we rested and began to backtrack.

This is when it happened, I noticed that Eden, who was taking up the rear along with myself, had stumbled ( crashed). So I stopped, yelled ahead, and helped him to his feet (waitred for him to log back in). Once he got to his feet I looked ahead and the others were gone. Just then I saw a familiar face appear from the shadow door, Rev. This is where Eden insisted he was fine and for us to go ahead, (he had to log for the night). So Me and Rev pressed on.

We stumbled thru this maze for what seemed like days, tryin this shadow door, tryin that shadow door. And seemed like everytime we might of got a lil further it pulled us back to the door to the Underdark. So we went outside to rest. And as I started to give Rev some blessings we noticed we werent alone. A Drow. Standing there watching us. We spoke only briefly, I think he was as surprised to see a dwarve and a human in their domain as we were to see him. then as he disappeared, I continued to quickly bless Rev quickly as I could for we knew what our presaence bein known meant. I had only got off a few more blessings when this Drow returned but this time with another. This one was bold enough to address us. I stopped my blessings as to not appear provacative to her. She said that we must be very powerful to have made it this far and was curious as to why we were here. I could see by Rev's shrug what he was thinkin, " only good drow is a dead one", So I replied that were merely here to rescue a friend in the maze and got lost. I used my Diplomacy skills best i Could. And seemed to be enough. I knew from experience that if we see two,then most likely there are at least four more well hidden watching us. I replied to her something to the effect of "Well if in your infinate Wisdom you allow us to continue, we will be on our way" Which to my surprise she agreed. I told her I would not forget her generousity and headed towards the door back into the maze. Once inside the maze again, Rev told me his displeasure of my solution to our encounter, which I well understood, but fighting drow was not why we were here and besides we got much bigger problems than Drow . We were LOST!

After many many hours of goin thru the shadow doors to pop over there,then here, then there again,
we finally found our way out, into the Salamander lair again, BUT.....

Our relief was only for a moment, as we looked ahead to the dorrway out it was blocked by several Fire salamanders their Queen and a Giant Magma Golem. We knew this was the only way out, we looked at each other and grinned. Then ran into the fold of Battle! We were immediately surrounded as they engulfed us. There we stood , toe to toe with the enemy, back to back with each other fending off this horde. Rev took on the Magma Golem as I fended off the others, I cast my healing spells as needed and we needed ALOT.But Rev's Axe swung true and my sword found its marks. The battle was long, one that one only hears about in song. And when the smoke cleared, we stood ankle deep in their blood, and their bodies laid all around us.We were victorious! We bandaged our wounds and made our way into the fire caverns and our way out.

On the way out we came across the others, and we carried all of the fallen into safety where we cast ressurrection upon them all, and took them to recover from their wounds.


\\\\People saved :

Nai
Mendel
Slade
V(ghosts)
Amarven
Saline
Galawyn

\\\ all of the rescue party would have been saved as Seth and Rev were the Last ones out and would have picked up their bodies if they had fallen along the way.

[Bassman]

I'll not justify the Dukes betrayal of Triel, by writing about their lack of will, wisdom, intelligence or courage. Suffice it to say the Dukes are no longer deserving af anyones loyalty or confidence. Their failure to send reinforcements to the village of Triel speaks volumns in itself of their lack of foresight and loyalty to the people that had pledged their lively hoods and lives to them. It is the Dukes themselves that have betrayed the people of Baulders Gate and its surrounding lands. At this point it would not surprise me if one or two, if not all, of the Dukes are Zhentarium themsleves.

We of the Silver Rose, Radiant Heart , EDE, Druids Grove, Doron Amar, and Kraaak Helzak should reassess our response the next time the Dukes give a call for help.

[Bassman]

Since the fall of Triel many things have happened. Alliances are frail; blame gets cast back and forth, to everyone except those responsible, which we all know where the failure truely lies, the Dukes. Guilds have become isolated from each other, and trust has become an elusive commodity. To top it off the Dukes, in their infinate wisdom, or lack of, have pulled back the fist from Friendly Arms Inn North to the Wyrm Bridge. Relinguishing jurisdiction to all the lands south of there. This I know for fact, as we were informed of this by the Fist themselves. The Dukes claim this is to protect the city of Baulders Gate, but anyone with a lick of sense knows its to protect their own cowardly arses.

This leaves the lands south of there with no laws, nor anyone to enforce them if there were any. Which leads me to the latest troubling incident. Dominic..........

Dominic has always been a thorn in our backside, although he has never been a member he has told our squires that he was their trainer, offered to open a chapter of the OSR in the underdark * chuckles a bit when writing that*, then following me around as my herald, announcing my presence and singing misleading songs of my so called exploits. Although aggrevating, nothing of real wrong doing. But now lately he has taken it upon himself to spread outright lies of our order.
It was when he was doing this that Kehl Stonehold caught wind of his lies, and when Kehl confronted him he began talking of Kehls kin as well. Well Kehl is not one to stand idly by while his kin is being insulted. The fight was on, Unfortunately knight Missy was there, and saw Dominic cast a spell on Kehl then tried to go invisible, and ran. Kehl gave chase, Missy felt she had no choice but to try to keep the peace. She pleaded with Kehl to stop, but when it was apparant he would not, she shot a single blunt arrow, to incapacatate him. Thusly she kept with our code of conduct, to use minimal force to diffuse a situation, and keep the peace. I stand behind and commend her decision. But......

Unfortunately when Master Rev heard of this attack upon his kin, he was beside his good sense with outrage. And when we stood behind her, this only made matters worse. He was so incensed he threw his key to the keep to the floor, started throwing insults at myself, Uriel, and most of all, and most unforgivable, our commander whom he had been close friends with since before I was even a squire. His words went beyond insult, they went to our very honor. thusly putting our alliance with the Dwarven in jeapordy.

Lady Elvina has put the resolution of this incident into my charge. I know there are two ways of dealing with this. One, trying to talk this out with Rev, Lady Elvina tried this, but to no avail, the dwarven can be quite stubborn when it comes to matters of honor, and kin. Two, a duel of Honor, this was the path I chose, although quite dangerous, it is the quickest path to resolution. I am quite confident in this I would lose. But, in doing so Honor would be satisfied for both. Thusly then we could get back to the business of repairing the damage done between the Dwarven and the OSR.

This was my intent when I caught up with Master Rev. I asked , well may of sounded more of a demand, for him to accompany me to the Keep, where I planned to have our duel of honor in the privacy of our training room. but he wouldnt follow. So I returned threw some insults I thought would surely enrage him enough he would have no choice but to follow. But again to no avail. Damn the dwarven can be stubborn. Seems now I must assume another tactic to resolve this situation with Master Rev. What, I am at this point at a loss, but will give it some thought.

Now I hear there are rumors being spread about the leadership of the OSR. We had heard , but could not believe these rumors were coming from the EDE. But Lady Elvina confirmed these rumors are being spread by Laisren himself, by my understanding. This news does not surprise me. I personally have no respect for Laisren, for he has never shown me even an ounce of respect. In fact He refuses to even acknowledge my presence ever. This for no reason, Laisren has now taken upon himself to spread these outright lies about us. But in these times , this will have to be dealt with another time.

[Bassman]

The Battle for Triel is done and is freed from the Black Oecs. And our missing knights are found and their bodies recovered. Prior to the final battle over Triel, the Black Orcs used our knights bodies as bait, to entice us into a trap, their plan backfired on them. They lost many of their fighters and we recovered our fallen knights. After taking them to the Temple of Tyr, our prior home before building our keep in these lands, the discussions began.

We are agreed in that we must do everything within our power to try to guide them back into this realm of the living. For they are our own bretheren. So as we agreed upon a ritual is necessary, I buried myself within the tomes of our library. For even though I am the lead healer of our order I am not a priest. The divine power and gifts of Gwaeron Windstrom flow deeply within me, but is the ritual beyond my gifts. This is the question I searched for answers too. The ingrediants for such a ritual were easily found, and within our grasps. But......

Its the cost of myself, that I've found, this is little known. I am not sure how far these costs will bore into my being. Will I lose memory of the ones I care about? Now that Elvina and I have stated our intentions towards each other, this loss would be unbearable. Would I lose some or even all of the Gifts My Lord has seen fit to bestow upon me? I cannot see my lord allowing this to happen.

But a price has to be paid, and this is of little matter for the return of our knights to their families and their friends. I will do further research to learn everything I can of this ritual, success is imperative, I must learn more.

[Bassman]

The hour is late, and I sit in my room watching little Sarah. She sleeps comfortably tucked in between the sheets. She doesnt move a muscle , save for the occassional twitch. Poor child has been thru so much in the last 24 hours. Seen so many things that even an adult should not witness. But I should digress a bit......

The ressurection of our fallen knights was a success thru the grace of Gwaeron Windstrom, Illmater, Tyr and Torm. They are recovering nicely, and in time they will be ready to return to their families in Neverwinter. Me? The rituals took a toll on me, and although I wouldnt admit it to Elvina. It may take me several months to recover fully, if I ever do. But something strange has happened to me. When I look in the mirror, I see the man I use to be. Almost......a younger version of myself. I wonder, was this the price the gods, demanded for the ressurection of our knights? Possible, thru my research into the workings of ressurection, I had read of such occurances happeneing. But it never occured to me, that something of this nature would be a consequence for myself. With that being said, this is a meager price for the well being of our knights, And one I am more than willing to pay for their return to their loved ones.

Which brings us to tonight and little Sarah. We began the evening with the usual gathering of our Knights and Squires for our weekly meeting. When we were informed of a small child waiting outside the gates to speak with us. I excused myself and went to talk with her. Poor child appeared clearly upset. So invited her in. She told us her name was Sarah and she and her parents were attacked along the Lions Way by bandits. She hid as her parents were killed, then made her way to us.

Upon hearing her story we gathered our arms, asked Sir Rand to look after the child, and hurried to the Lions Way to investigate. When we found the scene of the crime, we were to late. There lie the bodies of the childs Mother and Father. We secured the area, then I tried to raise them. But I failed, perhaps still to weak from the ressurections, and the price I paid was to much for me to be successful. So Elvina and myself picked up the bodies to take them to the temple of Oghma in Candlekeep.

We Ask Lady Svala to take charge of the investigation into who committed this attrocity. While we try to get Sarah's parents ressurected. Upon arriving in the temple we asked the Priest for his help. He tried to raise them, but failed. He explained that they may have deceased for to long for a mere raising. I knew what this meant, I offered myself , again, to offer whatever price the gods would require for their raising. When Elvina heard me say this, she put her foot down and said that I had already paid a heavy price earlier, and that I wasnt strong enough to endure such again. Of course she was right, but still was willing to offer myself. Just then the Priest informed us it wouldn't do any good. As it seemed that the spirits of the deceased were unwilling to return.

When hearing this my mind spun with so many thoughts, all centered around Sarah. I looked to Elvina and she to me. And with sadness in our eyes we agreed that there was nothing left to do here. So we went to find our Knights.

Outside of Candlekeep I picked up the trail of Lady Svala. And followed it to the abandoned lighthouse South of Candlekeep where these murderous bandits were holed up. The doors were barred to prevent entry. So outside we waited, Justice will prevail, and these bandits will face their attonement for leaving Sarah orphaned. Apparantly seeing that they were in a no win situation , and that we were not leaving. They decided to try to rush us and try to make their escape. With the grace of the House of the Triad and Gwaeron Windstrom they failed, and when the dust settled they lay dead at our feet.

We searched the bodies and the lighthouse but found nothing as to their identities. Just some low life assasin bandits, which Sarah and her family had unfortunately come across with dire misfortune, and now Sarah was left alone in this world.

So now came the unpleasant duty to inform her of the fate of her parents. She would not speak to any of our knights till I arrived. Maybe she felt safe with me, I dont know. But when I arrived we sat down on the couch, in front of the fire, and we talked. We talked for hours, she cried , I held her to comfort her, until she was so tired she couldnt keep her eyes open. So I took her upstairs to my room, tucked her into bed, and I sit here writing, keeping vigil with her so she feels safe.

Tomorrow we go to the Orphanage at the Radiant heart, where she will stay. I promised to visit her often as will many of our Knights and Squires. A Vow I plan to keep.

My eyes grow heavy now , think I'll lay my head on my desk for a short while. I doubt I'll sleep but maybe just rest my eyes for a short bit.

[Bassman]

Today is the day. A day I've been looking forward to with anticipation, and I admit with some nervousness. Which seems to grow as each hour passes pulling me closer. Today Elvina and myself go on our first date! I have gotten the flowers, an arrangement of pink carnations, bluebonnets, and white roses. I dont know her favorite flower so I hope I get lucky with one of these three. I have also picked up the box of chocolates I had imported in from Neverwinter. It was a bit expensive, but worth it. I was able to get the Royal convectioners to prepare and arrange them for me. A favor I now owe to an old friend of mine, to get these made. I hope she likes them.
I plan to take her to Candlekeep for a production that the White Mask theatre is putting on there.

Its been some months now since Elvina announced to the rest of the Order we planned to start dating, and was well received by all, I believe. But this is the first chance we have had to actually go out on our date. With everything going on, seems like there is always something to delay it. So I decided, that will always be the case, if we let it. So I asked her out officially just the other day, and even though she said yes, I think she enjoyed my nervous invitation. I never thought of how nervous I would be, till I began to ask her. But it has been decades since I have asked a woman out, so it should come as no surprise, but still I dont think its the asking , its who I'm asking. Elvina and myself Know we have a chemistry between us, so now we can try to find out if this can be something more.

[Bassman]

Frustration! Frustration is all I can describe it as. Elvina and myself went to Candlekeep. Her, looking as beautiful as the day I met her, dressed in a Blue dress that complimented her every, a,*hesitates and stops writing a moment grinning trying to rethink his words*.
The Blue dress she wore brought out the radiance of the twinkle in her eyes. Where as me, I was feeling quite naked in my tunic, Feeling the absence of my armor, I've grown so accustom to.

Seems always something tries to distract our attention from each other. Of course we knew this would be the case. But we try never-the-less to steal away a few fragments of time where we can, to be just a man and a woman. But this is the life we choose, duty before our own personal interests. Still, a few moments alone is welcome when we can find it.

The next day, I decided to walk off some frustration, and was heading to the Woods of Sharp Teeth. When from almost nowhere Lil Sarah appeared. Right there in front of the Friendly Arms Inn. Shock, worried, and concerned are a few words to describe the feelings I had. This area is not for children, not to mention the trip here being fraught with peril. She came cause she missed me and wanted to see me. I'm sure the sisters at the orphanage were sick with worry discovering her missing. We talked a bit, and she told me she still wanted to be a knight. She asked what she would have to do to become one. I told her first she must learn obedience, by her leaving the orphange and coming here was not an act of a obediant knight. She said she was sorry, and that she would learn. We talked a bit , but upon noticing the Inn grounds were becoming quite restless. I escorted her to our keep. Where I asked three of our knights to escort her back to the orphanage, while promising her I would visit soon. Which I will. But for me to secort her back myself would be rewarding her disobediance. Which is why I asked our knights to escort her.

[Bassman]

Upon further reflection, I find myself wondering. How could such a defenseless child such as lil Sarah, make her way to the Friendly Arms Inn without incident? I am coming to realise this child may be no normal child, special in some way. In which way I'm not sure as of yet. She obviously has talents of evasion, to make it as far as the FAI all alone. Or is it something else that protects her. In any case, I have decided to visit her regularly at the orphanage, and while offering my friendship , observing her developement. And offer guidance where needed.