Journal of Exordius...

[V'rass]

Day 450.

Its now been over a year and a half since that failed wizard's experiment stranded me on this gods forsaken world. The place is about as different from the homeworld as night from day. Instead of one all encompassing empire there are hundreds of different kingdoms all of whom are in competition with each other and constantly war amongst themselves. Some alliances exist but the humans here never unified and prob never will given how things stand now.

Their magic in comparison to ours is primitive to say the least though the gods here at least saw fit to limit the power of magic. The kind of magic we use is all but impossible here and given how much damage was caused throughout our history because of unrestricted magic that is likely a good thing. However their current ability with teleportation magic is far short of what i would need to return home so i will be stuck here until they advance to our level... which prob wont be for several centuries at least.

The amount of chaos and danger here mirrors what existed before the empire came into being so many millennia ago. Monsters and bandits roam the countryside and the roads are barely safe to travel even with armed guards. There is barely any order to be found and the infrastructure is limited and often in a state of disrepair. There are next to no patrols and beyond the cities the law often does not extend. Pirates, cultists, mad wizards, and worse are everywhere. That civilization manages to survive here is a miracle.

And dont even get me started on all the different tongues they speak here instead of just one like back home.

Even despite all of this though my time here has not been all bad. I have adapted well and have made many friends and allies. This world does have its charm and endearing traits. And if the quality of life does not always impress the zest with which they go about it is inspiring. For better or worse this is my home now. The people here have earned my respect and i will do what i can for them. This is a simpler place and in a way that in itself is appealing. There is nothing but to move forward and make do as best i can. We shall see how it goes...

[V'rass]

Day 451.

Training continues as do the various plots i have become (somewhat) unwittingly embroiled in.
The local adventurers guild i joined the Pheonix Company, continues several major campaigns against various evil minded groups including a particularly nasty race known as Drow. The Drow in particular have become a major thorn in my side as they have repeatedly came after and harmed me seemingly for no reason other then because they could. I will have vengeance on them... that much i swear. Not sure how just yet but it will come to pass. It may take a while but they will be punished for what they did! No mercy for them.

[V'rass]

Day 452.

Our guild mission today ended in complete failure and almost saw all of us killed or enslaved by the Drow. The mission was simple enough, infiltrate the drow city and acquire information, this should have gone without any issue but thanks to certain individuals who could not keep their mouths shut and numerous other mistakes our cover was blown and we had to make a fighting withdraw through the caverns with an entire army coming after us. Fortunately we were able to escape but only just barely. To top it all off the information we got is now useless as the drow almost certainly know about it now. All in all today was a disaster of epic proportions.

[V'rass]

Day 453.

My plan for vengeance against those who tormented me is slowly making progress. I have now identified which faction was responsible for the incident, a drow house known as Devlin. I have also learned that they are quite possibly the most hated faction down there with seemingly everyone else looking for ways to annoy and or bring them down. This is good as that gives me an exploitable resource and possibly like minded (if temporary) allies. It was one such faction that aided my escape although it was done purely to spite house Devlin and not out of any concern for me. Still, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Perhaps the various factions can be manipulated into serving my purpose...

[V'rass]

Day 454.

Much progress has been made in my quest to obtain vengeance on house Devlin. I have managed to make several contacts down there, have made several allies who are willing to help me, and a certain faction has even said they might be willing to aid me... if i can offer them enough coin that is. My new disguise works well and aside from my contacts nobody suspects that i am an outsider. My knowledge of the political situation down there grows and soon i may be able to initiate a few moves of my own though these will be minor and more to test the waters then to effect major change. Getting down there is still a problem but now that several wizards offer teleportation service i should be able to come and go as i please. All in all today was a good day.

[V'rass]

Day 455.

Not much happened today... either on the surface or downstairs. One of my contacts downstairs did however inform me of an interesting development. It would appear powerful people and factions are aware of my presence and are watching... word is they consider me a curiosity rather then a threat and are allowing (for now) my machinations for some inscrutable reason. I suppose in hindsight it was inevitable that such would happen... it was too much to hope for to go undetected for more then a brief period of time. At any rate i am safe for now... but that will only last as long as i am not considered a threat, i will need to do what i can to avoid doing anything that might upset these groups. I will also need to ensure that i do not become a pawn in some grand political game between the various factions though it may be too late for that now...

[V'rass]

Day 456.

Managed to obtain a truly wondrous suit of armor... and i got it for free to boot. Well not free, but close enough that it does not matter. Normally such a suit would cost at least 500 bags so i am quite fortunate to have gotten it. It offers superior protection and only slightly impedes my ability to use arcane spells. Anything that improves my defenses is important if i am to become strong enough to obtain my goals and defeat my enemies, and i am well on my way. Today was a good day.

[V'rass]

And i was right... it was too late to avoid getting pulled into an inter-faction war in the UD. This new faction, the order of the red moon seems to be a rival drow faction who's current goals remain unknown... however I cant confirm if they are drow until i get more info on this. They are everywhere on the surface and by dealing with them i have ended up unknowingly and unwittingly becoming a pawn in their scheme. So far things have been ok... they have promised and delivered to me many boons for helping them and have offered to help me gain vengeance on house Dev'lin if i continue to serve them well. While i dont know what their goal is it does seem that they are enemies of house Dev'lin so i can at least take heart in that.

Everything is now happening rapidly... too rapidly for me to control. At least it wont be boring.

[V'rass]

DAMNATION!!! I had her, found her lying in a ditch unconscious. She was completely helpless and fully within my grasp. A golden opportunity to exact vengeance on her easily and spit in the face of house Dev'lin at the same time. It was perfect... and it all came to nothing. We should have teleported, that was the fatal mistake.

I told them we had to teleport to get her to a secure location before she got strong enough to resist and so that we could avoid encountering anyone on the way. But no... they would only transport her the old fashioned way. As expected when we brought her past Gullykin the halfings went crazy and the militia came forth. At this point we tried turning her over to the haflings for trial, except the halfings decided to ignore the law and kill her on the spot without said trail.

This could not be permitted so we demanded she come with us to Beregost. The damn halfings would have none of it and threatened to attack us if we tried. It was then she got loose and used a vampiric feast on everyone. Almost all the halflings died, we were brought low, and she escaped back to the Underdark. No doubt retaliation will be forthcoming now...

A bad day for the record books indeed!

[V'rass]

As i had already suspected the knightly order known as the Radiant Heart has shown itself to be corrupted. They were always the most rabid of the morality police but now they even go so far as to torture and execute people without trial. A man seeking to turn from evil even sought their aid and instead was treated in the most brutal fashion. And when certain of the knights called their brethren out on these infractions they were bullied into silence. They are a prime example of why law and good are just as vile as chaos and evil. I shall consider them my enemy from hence forth. The most un-noble order of the not so radiant fart can go to hell and suffer!

[V'rass]

Much has happened and none of it is good. So much i have not had time to write in this journal.
It turns out the corruption and bigotry of this region is far worse then i had anticipated, the so called holy orders commit evil acts and pretend to be good, the dukes continue to turn the Gate and its lands into a police state, and anyone who disagrees with the majority is at best shunned and at worst outright murdered.

I find it humorous that the so called dukes dare to claim the moral high ground given their past crimes and considering they are in bed with the Zhentarim and the Red Wizards. Have to be careful now, say anything that even slightly disagrees with the dukes and their laws and its off to the camps with you in the middle of the night. Even more humorous are the holy orders who have been secretly abducting, torturing, and murdering people often times for no reason other then said people looked at them funny. And of course you have the radical elf supremacist group the black archers spying on and assassinating people who they dont like, even other elves in some cases.

I cant even trust my friends anymore as most have now shown themselves to be backstabbers, parasites pretending to be my friends only to betray me and discard me when i am no longer useful to them. This is perhaps the most hurtful part of it all... i trusted these people and would have died for them, i fought beside them and aided them in their efforts. I considered them brothers and sisters. And in return i get spat in the face... told to bugger off or suffer. Only perhaps 10% of those i considered friends have proven to be true.

But this will not stop me... oh no. My resolve has never been stronger. From now on everyone gets what they have coming...

[V'rass]

Things continue to go well on the various side projects i have going.

Thanks to a great deal of investigation and intuition i now have a very good idea of who i can trust and who are best left out of the loop from hence forth. Thus i have formed three lists to cover each group, one list white, one grey, and the other black. Those on the white list are trustworthy while those on the black list are not. Those on the grey list require further study before placing them on either of the other lists.

My efforts to spy on the various drow houses goes well. The new disguise and alias has worked perfectly so far and i am beginning to get valuable information now as well. Of course even so it remains dangerous and several of my trusted friends think me insane to be doing it but it has to be done and since nobody else will do it i have little choice.

Training continues and my power grows daily. Still a long way from complete but it progresses.

Main problem now is dealing with the diabolical invasion in the north. As expected and as before the various factions holding the front line have already begun to fight amongst themselves just as they did during the undead war. This was of course inevitable but for it to happen so soon is definitely a bad sign and i fear that such foolishness will be used by the devils to their advantage.

We will see how it goes...

[V'rass]

I had known the northern watch was being run by morons but their latest decision is so foolish that it makes me wonder if Micheal Dunn and Wren even have brains inside their heads. The fact that it should be obvious even to those who have no experience with war and tactics just makes it all the more stupid. No doubt the devils will take full advantage of their error and exploit it for all its worth.

They have decided to fortify at an old fort near the bridge. At first it seemed a good decision but now i realize its the worst possible place. The topography of the area makes it a death trap. The hill the fort sits on does not actually block the devils from coming through and due to the way that bit of land is all the devils have to do is swing around the hill and close off the only entrance. That whole position will then be cut off with no chance to escape. Even if they somehow manage to hold out in the now isolated fort the devils can just bypass it entirely, cross the bridge, and walk right into Soubar unopposed.

Having these fools as our champions does not make me optimistic about our chances...

[V'rass]

Lots has been happening and none of it good. In particular the orcs and drow have formed an alliance and now raid the surface almost nightly. Dozens of people have been killed or abducted, tortured, and then killed the last month or so and traveling at night these days is a very risky proposition. I have been attempting to spy on them but have had little luck. Large numbers of orcs and drow move through Soubar most nights but so far none have stopped to chat and so I have learned little. I will keep trying...

[V'rass]

Tonight was a disaster though I am partly to blame. I decided to take a break from spying and was heading back to the Gate. It was night and I took the thunder ride road... big mistake. Ran right into a large number of drow and orcs. Managed to teleport away and fled north, seemed to be home free and then ran right into another orc patrol coming from the opposite direction. Tried to run and teleport again but no luck. Was cut down and apparently collected by the orcs and drow shortly there after.

I have no memory of anything after running into the second orc patrol but it seems some unknown group was able to secure my body and left it at the FAI to be raised. I don't know who the orcs or the drow were nor do I know who the group was that helped me. I can remember nothing and that is a big problem. Now I have to worry about them coming after me and since I have no memory of them I have no way of defending myself or hiding from them. Figuring out who they are is thus my top priority.