Merrick of Iriaebor's journal

[Rasael]

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The 5th of Mirtul
Journal of Merrick of Iriaebor
Paladin sworn to the service of Tyr
Thought of the day: "Idle thoughts are the bane of duty"

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As I left the temple a farmer from the outlying fields approached me with a request. The request was to ask the church if a servant of Tyr could be spared to keep vigil on the graveyard so that common people can make their peace with their beloved, who have found death's embrace. At the farmers request I have lain fresh lillies at his wife's grave.

After attending to the request I kept a vigil to see for myself the problems with the graveyard. The farmer was not mistaken. It was not long before the dead crawled from graves and came forth from a cave nearby.

During my vigil I made the acquaintance of a curious mage name Thagrin Doomsayer. I assumed he had come to make peace with a deceased relative but he appears to have been curious about the graveyard instead. As he saw me observe duty in Tyr's name he grew inspired and offered to share my vigil.

Our shared Vigil went well. We repeatedly faced down the undead, even outnumbering us three to one. We tactically kept the high ground and guarded our flanks. The sixth wave surprised us however and approached from both the front as well as our backs. The abominations had somehow skirted the highground and found a way up behind our backs. It was not long before Thagrin fell, knocked out clean by a ravening zombie.

I was barely able to hoist him over my shoulders and conduct a tactical retreat. Had I not downed the potion of blurry eyes the astrologer in Beregost gave me the undead would surely now be feasting on our corpses. I have never experienced a similar effect in all my travels. It seemed as though I was in multiple places at once, and it suitably distracted the chasing zombies.

With haste I made my way to High Priest Eldric Sulnar of Tyr's Temple in Baldur's Gate. Thagrin was in a bad way by the time I arrived because the gate guards insisted that I take the time to remove my helmet while balancing his body on my back. Never the less I was in time and the good abbot was able to heal him after a considerable effort.

As he recovered Thagrin asked to become my squire and to serve Tyr by championing his justice together. At first I was sceptical since the mageling could barely defend himself and does not appear strong enough to fight in solid armor. Despite my obvious doubts he persisted however and I warmed to the idea. I told him I would pray to Tyr for guidance and confer with my peers on the matter. I will seek council from any brothers are in the area, abbot Sulnar may know where they are to be found.

I promised Thagrin he would have my reply and be able to take his vows the next full moon, should he still be willing at that time. I sense that he may not wish to abandon his study of wizardry but I shall at the very least insist that he wear armor and train with a proper weapon if he is to become my squire. Zombies may merely knock sense into you, but an orc cleaver won't be so forgiving. But I've seen worse in my travels. None the less, I sense that Thagrin has a place in the balance of things, I will be curious to see on which path he settles.