​Every Man Has His Demons​

9th day of Kuthona: From the diary of Vinatta Von Tyrnan

   After many adventures, I found myself wrestling with the conciousness of Harmon Grey in a battle for our lives.  I am accompanied by Berta, Hinge, and Zolanda into a chapel to witness the coronation within the order of holy sentinals.  All hell breaks loose.....
    The demons seem to crawl out of every nook and cranny available, thier numbers seem to be unending.  Fortunately most of them are easily enough dispatched.
    I am filled with awe at the religious memorabilia found within the catacombs and dungeons of the keep.  I am also filled with remorse for the deaths of so many paladins and the way their bodies have been desicrated.  I feel Harmon's rage deep within me as I look upon these horrors.
    Back and forth, back and forth, I am me, then I am stuck in the shield.  Oddly Harmon allows me come out of the shield to perform my first exorcism....it was a success.  Buzzing, humming, screaming...my mind fills with a presence that is not my own....after what seemes an eternity, it disappears and I am myself again.
    Zolanda drinks a potion and is now a man...Zolandan...interesting...wonder what the motive was behind that...
    More demons, more carnage.  Finally the demonscope is within grasp, but a giant demon, one of which I have never seen before blocks the way.  I prepare to banish it back to the plane from which it came, when Harmon breaks loose and traps me in the shield.
    I can feel rage, desparity, and pain, then....I am whole again, the shield damaged, staring face to face at this demon.  The banishment works and the demonscope made hole again.
    I am knighted into the Order of Holy Sentinals, a great honor for me, and much glory to Iomedae.  I was also giving the title of Demon Slayer.
    As I sit here taking a break from my studies of the Demonology book I found, I can't help but wonder where the next road will take me.....perhaps it is time to make my way back to Solhaven and take the throne of my people....or perhaps I will continue on my journeys....time and the will of Iomedae can only tell.
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8th Day of Kuthona: From the Kenabres Town Priest Journal​



    Upon the day of inauguration of our newest Sentinel to the order of Holy Sentinels, our town and temple were desecrated by the Son of Perdition and other demons from within the Sentinel keep. Many of our fellow brothers and sisters died due to the ignorance from Sir Holton Albright. The Son of Perdition melted his weak mind and convinced him to betray the order to right the words of Iomedae, but only as the Son of Perdition wanted him to understand those holy words. Albright had taken one of the wardstone shards from the very sentinel he was to replace and fled the keep. Apparently after his action in taking the wardstone he realized the error of his foolish ways as demons poured from the depths of the Demonscope and assaulted the keep. Holton found himself trapped and cornered so he locked himself in the scroll room of the dungeon keep until the next day when the courageous actions of these few brave travelers were able to beat back the demons inside the keep. Although Albright tried to make a mends for his wrong-doings, no acts could ever restore the horrors brought upon his brothers of the order, and the faithful citizens residing at the ceremony. I am very proud that even in today's world, there are still individuals who are willing to take up arms against the hell spawn which threatened this entire region of Mendev.
    There were four traveling citizens that took arms against the demon horde, however only three were knighted and christened into the Holy Order of Sentinels. Curious that, one of the men of this small group did not want to be recognized. I can only wonder if for some reason he felt himself undeserving of such an honor.
    As I sit upon the balcony of the temple and look down upon the soon to be execution of Holton Albright, I can think of no other man that is more deserving of his punishment, and no other man that could possibly hold as much guilt and shame for their actions as he. Albright must consider the executioner to be a godsend of Iomedae, for it is a punishment but also a release of his guilt...



​The Lost Magics
28th Day of Pharast: From the Diary of Vinatta VonTyrnan
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Spend a few nights in a small town only to be awoken by choking smoke....
Ended up walking countless miles to Avondale, the dwarf tunnels were interesting...
Got new clothes!...And boots!...
Cured a prominent traveler and got some information, seems everyone knew Harmon Grey, and apparently I've adopted his mission by finding his shield...
Zolanda and I start the actual "adventure" of finding the red mages...
End up in sewers...
Got darts from a trap in me...thanks Zolanda...
Fell 80 feet into concrete and 6" of human waste and Iomedae know what....thanks again Zolanda...
Got the attentions of some red mages, found out that fireballs, lighting, and arcane engergy really fricken hurts......
Finally got a bath in back at the tavern...
Woken again, this time by...you guessed it...Zolanda.  Found a mean note on my desk, read it and got turned into a statue.
Woke up half naked hanging upside down in shackles in a dungeon...oh boy can this day get any better?...
Finally Zolanda gets us both free...get the guard to come in, where I set him on fire...Finally things are looking up!
Found a bunch of magic stuff, and shoved another mage into a footlocker and clued it shut...I'm a vengefull one....
Stole a bunch of stuff from the mages and glued a bunch of them in thier own barracks room...heheh...then to exact more revenge...used the same spell they used on me to turn one of them into a statue....
Dumped a bunch of glue on a woman who then proceeded to place her hand on her mouth...glueing it firmly in place...at least we didn't have to listen to the bitch shriek anymore...
High mage saw me, both of us tried to hold person,....I failed, he succeeded....once again can't do a damn thing....
Finally subdue him, and get him safely off the island...
Zolanda fly's away...I find a flying disc, use it....going good for a bit, then.....fail.   Can't swim so good, bout drowned...Zolanda comes back and pulls me out, just to dump me most unceremoniously onto the ground....
Finally talk to the royalty only to find out the guy we thought we had was changed out with a double....Shit!!!
So to sum it all up...Shit, concussion, darts, elements, statue, imprisonment, fire, glue, statue again, drowning, dropping, and now there's a price on my head by the High Red Mage.......Life should be interesting.
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​​ The Carnival
16th day of Shevat: from the diary of Zolanda

    Devin, Sack Boy, the Wizard (whose name I still don't know) and myself are following Clive to some Carnival. On our way there we spot what looks to be a very large Tiger who is now looking at us like we're dinner. So I take out my bow, and shoot it in the shoulder.. Oh man did I piss that sucker off. Clive came out and hit him, and our little Sack Boy tried to hit him, but he tripped and his ax went straight into Clive's back. Next thing we know the tiger now has Clive in his mouth by the teeth. Our wizard tried to free him but that didn't help, and Sack Boy went right up to this thing and punched it in the face. Meanwhile I'm lining up my next shot praying not to hit Clive I let the arrow go and it hit's the Tiger right in the muscles of his jaw, letting go of Clive.  Clive immediately gets up and gets his revenge killing the tiger. Sack Boy and I both took a tooth, and Clive skinned him. Back on our travels we go... We find a spot and take up camp. We notice some large elephants off in the distance, but once i felt safe I took out my bed roll and went to sleep, however, Clive wakes me up and sends me on a "little mission"
   He had noticed a few men off near the elephants and he wanted me to quietly go investigate and see what they were up to. I got up and crept into the darkness on my little mission for Clive.  It's hard to be quiet in the woods, with leaves and twigs to be stepped on, but thankfully, I made it over by these men quiet enough to not be noticed. At first I couldn't understand a word they were saying, and then I noticed the horns, and the hooves. We are now dealing with satyrs.
   I struggled to understand what they were saying, but finally after listening long enough I heard that they were going to take the elephants with them back to the Carnival. I quietly made my way back to our camp sight and reported my findings to Clive.
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   Clive now wants me to to follow them...This is where it gets a little hazy...
   I make my back into the darkness being as quiet as I can, again hard to do so in the woods. I see that the men have surrounded the elephants and one took out what looks to be a flute.. and out came the pretty music.. I couldn't help it I was in a trance, and I made myself to be seen.  Then I woke up in a cage, in a silk dress and my equipment is gone. GREAT!
   At first I tried to pick the lock of this cage but it just wasn't doing the trick... I needed my tools. Finally I decided to use some magic, (a new skill I had learned during our travels) I reach out my hands touch the lock and, wouldn't you know.. It sort of... melted. I pop the lock, open the door, and bolted, heading straight for my team. Devin spots me, and steps in front of me as I pass. He happened to notice that I have no armor and my equipment is gone. Thankfully he has a spare bow and some arrows. Our battle begins, as one  satyr pulls out his flute again... I take my shot and hit him... unfortunately nothing happened...it didn't seem to phase him...and then...the music...it put Devin and I to sleep....

​Kalimdor's Reich
3rd Day of Shevat:


     The Pathfinders take their long journey after the destruction of the ravenous sphinx. Just under two weeks of slow travel through the deserts makes for weary travelers, and very low rations of food. Despite the creation of divine food and drink, the sustenance just doesn't seem to come easily, and goes even quicker.
    Elandis was a driver for Ausgar Olam for many years and was very well traveled. He was one of the few that had survived supply bandit attacks and overcame the great blight of 4625.
    Setting up camp was like a trance ever night for this group, finding hard surface of the Oshkar dunes area to rest the caravans each night and then Elandis would chaulk the wagons and set up supplies for campfires and food. Wood was very scarce at this point as most of it in the wagons were used over the previous two weeks. Thanks to the druid however, Elandis had figured out that there were dry roots underneath this harsh desert surface. Vash the druid would create enough life in the roots to infuse them with enough life to become good tinder. This happened on a nightly basis and even Mischief would help by digging far enough down to find roots.
    Elandis needed some again tonight and wouldn't be happy about his food offerings if he didn't have enough fire to cook with. Ausgar loved his meals, especially in this tepid desert and it's one reason that he was always kept around. Elandis had come to like Mischief a lot for the wolf's help in the recent times as he was indispensible to Elandis.
     This night, as Mischief was digging, the hardy wolf lurched back in suprise and ran away to the druid's presense. Elandis however, began to investigate the suprise of the wolf. Upon closer inspection, he found a small black figure that seemed to be a brooch for his cloak. Something he had needed for months now that the last one had lost its clasp and this one looked rather well made. The druid started running back with weapon drawn, but saw no danger and started to slow on the way over. Elandis picked up the small brooch, carved out of obsidian and looking like a small scarab of his homeland, began to clasp it to his cloak in place of the small leather strap that was interim.
    Vash and the other party members ran in rushing motion instantly when a shriek of pain rang out for a few seconds before complete silence. The group came to a dead halt just above the body of Elandis, his face frozen in horrid terror and hands falling limp from scratching at his chest, where there lay a huge torn gash into the heart of his chest and through his ribs.
"What happened here!?" Ausgar shrieked after some time in disbelief, "Wait, don't touch him! We must not take posession of him in any way!"
    The group that was advancing on his body closer investigation quickly backed off in slight confusion.
    "It is a scarab of death! Only the worst of cursed items, it is a small rock of a scarab that comes to life and digs straight to the heart of it's victim within moments...poor Elandis should have known better." Ausgar hung his head lower and sighed.
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  "Let’s just be thankful for all the special moments that my brother has left us. And with that, I hope that my faithful friend will continue to live on within our hearts and minds. Let us move on in hopes that we all shall survive these times." Ausgar merely motioned for others to follow suit as he started to thrown sand up over the body, still stuck with a horrid face of terror...
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4th Day of Shevat:
 
     The group heads out of the dune-land with stress in the veins after seeing the horrible event of Elandis' death. On the horizon lay Kalimdor's small ringed cityscape and rural farms as they head down to the valley and rivers. The city, beckoning to magic powers beyond even the highest of comprehensions, is covered in the bright magical aura of powers. Even by the naked eye the city radiates the powers in wavy colors now spinning around the borders of the ringed city, spilling out powers that have warped crops in the outlying areas, and turned the surrounding sky a very pale green color.
    Harmon Grey, being cold in comparison to the hot dry desert only sits back in the carriage of the caravan, loosing his armor and breaking into a cold sweat. Never does he look at they city as the others of the group does, but only stares blankly at the ground and floor of the carriage.
    "My friend are you sick with the fever?" Ausgar's voice seems booming to the party as no one had spoken in a while.
    "jus' a bit a it i think." Harmon's voice is hoarse and quick, almost breaking in tone. "jus' getten used to the wetha again..."
    The party and caravans, almost empty of supplies now again and starving for a good meal, approach the grand stench that is radiating from the sewers now and trash now piled upon the streets where no wizard or most clerics have done any manual work. It seems most of the people in the rural areas that were trying to start farming are now starving and blighted from the lack of supplies brought by the normal caravans and venture companies that would normally keep the city wealthy. The few people that do speak are hateful with loathing for the wizards and clerics that are occupying the castle of Kalimdor. Everyone feels the distrust in the air about the ritual being put into motion by all those of magic means. Wizards line the city walls in chants and components strewn about over the edges. Clerics stand within the bell towers, ringing the large bells and praying to those they believe in. Common folk skulk in the corners of the streets, taking to the alleys and dark corners of the housing still standing within the close districts of the Castle.
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​The Ravenous Sphinx
23rd day of Tevet:

    The Black basalt of the Oshkar desert that entombs the Ravenous Sphinx originally came from the great mountains to the north. Just the look of the igneous rock and the dry region make Ausgar and his men shiver at night. During the day temperatures smolder the region and make anyone who dares enter it crazy within hours. The Caravan drivers sit against the small out-cropping of sandstone dunes while the moon starts to set full. Ausgar looks fearfully at the giant snarling head of some long extinct creature on the body of a lion, thinking to himself it could only be the work of evil. The party of adventurers he had sent in only an hour ago had disappeared into the giant open mouth of the Ravenous Sphinx, though he knew not if they were already dead, or when they would come out alive.
    "Only three more days..." he told himself quietly, still looking anxious at the black basalt that partially buries the sphinx body with a flowing erosion.
     Only one person had stayed behind that night, after having almost died on the carriages earlier that night, the Witch Doctor decided to rest his heavily wounded body and take on the sphinx tomb later in the morning. The other adventurers however, had different plans.
    "I'm going to go. See you."
     The Witch Doctor startled Ausgar, whom was off in his own train of thought.
    "You mustn't go...You don't even know if they're alive still, it's been hours" Ausgar seemed nonchalant at this point, only half getting up to stop the Witch Doctor who was already walking towards the giant head in the sand.
    Upon approach, the snarling head didn't even move. The Witch Doctor went all the way up to the mouth, examining the black basalt sand that covers this small portion of the desert. He picked up a rock, and although careful, chucked it at the eyes of the giant Ravenous Sphinx head.
    Almost immediately the giant snarling head came to life and chomped it's teeth down upon the Witch Doctor's frail body, slamming it's large muzzle into the sands with a crash of dust. When the mouth slowly opened again, and the head rose to it's great height, the Witch Doctor was no more; only sands lay where his dead body should have been.
    "Oh Pharasma!" said Ausgar, "bring them back alive."​