The Journal of Harren Smoulder Entry #15

I have a feeling that I can't shake. A feeling that I'm being molded into my parents but I'm still trying to remain different. I would never say I don't appreciate them, but they aren't who I want to be. Mollie is the only reason I can think of. She makes me happy when I'm with her but I'm unhappy without her. For the time being I'll fill what time I can with nursing my skin and writing in this.

What we found when we emerged from the cellar in the morning left us beyond surprised. The heat we were feeling last night wasn't only our passion, but a fire burning above us. Somehow Mollie's house had burned down in the night. She poked and prodded at the charred bits of what used to be her possessions. I expected her to be more worried about her daughter. I know my companions are capable, and I doubt they would leave a little girl to burn in a house fire, but she doesn't know them. When I asked her about it she said she'd taught her daughter well and she knew where the cellar was. My friends probably had to restrain the girl to stop her from running to Mollie.

If her daughter was anywhere she'd be with the rest of the group. If the group were anywhere it would be the inn. We walked silently down the street. It felt as if a heavy cloud was looming over the two of us. What was I to say in such a situation? Our night together had been such an exhilarating one. The next morning the person who had made me so excited has an unfortunate life changing event thrust upon them. I couldn't bring myself to even raise my head. At least I could still smile when I saw Mollie hug Meh. She'd been scarfing down breakfast with the others.

The three of us took a seat at a table away from the others. I was introduced properly to Meh as her new father figure. I hesitate to say father but I will try my best to fill the role. Meh doesn't speak any common tongue, only orcish .Even then I can't be certain she can speak it properly being so young. Mollie taught me to recognize a few words like yes and no although the pronunciation is still difficult for me. I'd like to avoid using it until my mouth is more accustomed to the syllables. She eats like three growing boys trying to become the biggest most muscular among them. I'm a little afraid of an appetite like that. I asked Mollie what she planned on doing now while groggily missing my mouth with a sloppy biscuit. She laughed while cleaning my face. She would be spending the day picking up what's left of her life to come along with me for the foreseeable future.

Thug poked her head in and rushed over to Mollie when she saw her. It almost looked like Mollie had two daughters. She was more angry about the whole situation. She wanted to find whoever did it and drag them through the streets. I saw Few shifting in her seat out the corner of my eye. Mollie managed to calm Thug down and get her to agree to just helping her today. They all left me and my cohorts to our meal. I eyed them each because who else could have burned down Mollie's home? The only question was which. Zanvar was above my suspicions, it's not in his nature. Few has quite an affinity for fire and she's acting guilty but she wouldn't have much reason. Eric is able to use holy fire that is indistinguishable from a normal fire, and he DOES seem to hate my guts. He's the one I'm watching most closely. Thug popped back in just to quickly deliver a message. The inventor had finished making the ink Ziaka wanted us to deliver to her. That settled what we were going to do today before the discussion even began.

It was a long and silent trek along the pit the town was built beside. It wasn't quite as far as circling the abyss back on the surface but we only had to walk one way back then. Well, everyone else walked other than me. From atop Wee I watched everyone like a hawk. What I didn't see though was the whirlwind of annoyance until she'd already landed in front of us. Diedre had been practicing her footwork with a bit of shadow fighting. When she saw us walking by she'd gotten the idea to spar and wouldn't take no for an answer. Even when I tried to ride away she knocked me down. Whether she knows it or not she gets under my skin like no other.

We agreed and tried to hash out details like who would be fighting first. Diedre just took a lowered stance and reached to her back. She'd added several different spears to her arsenal since we'd seen each other yesterday. She flung three high into the air forming a triangle around her as they impacted the ground. They hummed taking on blue, green, and red hues. She intended to fight all of us at once and already took the upper hand while we were still unaware we'd even started.

When Diedre reached towards a pole she'd glow with the same color. When green she was able to send us flying on whirlwinds. Blue meant she was about to call lightning from her fingertips. If she turned red she would emit a wave of force around herself. We were less than prepared for these abilities. Aside from Eric and Few trying to tie Diedre with rope and myself attempting to uproot the red spear we were utterly ineffective. That didn't stop her from taking things a step further with a fourth new weapon. It was a glaive that looked much like Kevin. The blade had a large eye and looked to be made of something other than metal. When she held this weapon she was able to create visages of herself with the individual powers granted by the spears.

After chasing these specters for a while Diedre sheathed her weapon. Her illusions disappeared as she retrieved her other spears. Battered, bruised, and bloody; Eric asked her if she'd had enough. Her scowl alone was enough to cut through his bravado. She added that if we weren't going to take things seriously then there was no point in continuing. She stomped off in the direction of town leaving us to tend to ourselves. I was waiting on Eric to start healing us with his miracles but instead he started disinfecting wounds. He said he'd rather keep them at the ready for when we truly need them. After that the rest of the trip to the inventor's was spent trying to figure out how we could have done anything.

The area around the workshop was littered with strange things. Fake birds with ludicrously long legs planted in the ground, a fountain that spun around and clicked spraying water in a circle, and a vehicle I'd never seen before next to an extension of the building. When we came upon the inventor he'd been draining something black from underneath the vehicle. He slid out on a board once he noticed me clearing my throat. Imagine my surprise when I saw the tentacles of an Illithid around his mouth. He wiped his hand on the odd clothes he wore and introduced himself as Andrew.

Andrew had been one of Viktor's first experiments with Illithids. An anomaly of a failure in his eyes since Andrew was still very much himself. He was aware and intelligent enough to escape. He avoided Dragonhallow eventually finding this house. Even when he was hiding his passion of creating was still steering him. He was discovered soon after when an accidental fire brought townsfolk out of the woodwork. They were very accepting of him. A few helped him rebuild and improve the workshop. Since then he's spent most of his time making whatever suits his fancy that day. Much of what he invents is useless to him but he was more than happy to show them off to us. It was mostly hum drum things made to serve one purpose like chopping food or cleaning tableware.

Zanvar pointed out a pile of short tubes asking what they were. Andrew said they were for drinking water that is otherwise unsafe, something that had become more important recently. The water supply to Dragonhallow had apparently become increasingly more toxic. The smaller village Annie had told us about when we first arrived had gone silent at about the same time. Zanvar and I silently agreed that this was something worth investigating. Eric found an unassuming backpack. Andrew explained that it was the fastest and easiest way down to the next level of the Abyss. All one had to do was wear it and jump in the pit.

Few had to interrupt our questions and Andrew's child like excitement with the reason we were here. He gave us a small brown bag with Ziaka's name written across it. She bid farewell before Andrew could stop her. We followed her out but I promised to come visit him before we left this level. Living so far away from everyone he knows seems to leave him starved for company. It reminds me of the time I lost a bet and wasn't allowed to talk to anyone for a month. No one expected me to last the four days I did.

It was mid afternoon when we returned to Ziaka's tent. Zanvar volunteered to stay outside as to not upset her again. She was lazily swaying, almost dancing as she hummed. When she noticed us her eyes focused on the bag. I can only guess that the expression on her face was a smile. She dipped her tongue into the murky liquid rolling it around her mouth. She asked who was going to be the first to claim their reward while coiling around her chair. I happily sat down but I wasn't sure what I wanted. She opened a sketch book explaining what enhancement each pattern would grant me. I settled on five tattoos. Two on my legs to allow for even faster more deft movement, two on my hands to help my swords find their mark more easily in combat, and one on the back of my neck in the shape of a humming bird not only to keep me alert but to make the scar back there look more pleasing.

Her tongue stung like a bee with every stroke. The melodic humming that imbued the art with magic was also a source of comfort. If not for it I'd likely not have been able to sit through all of this in one go. Painted wings down along my ankles and feet. Thorny vines around my wrists and along my forearms. I very much like how they look. Sadly she didn't have a mirror on hand. I can't wait to see how the bird on my neck looks.

By this time there wasn't much left to do with the day. We returned to the Flappy Stingray and prepared for bed. It was uncomfortable trying to make space for three people in my room. Meh is still not trusting of me so I let her and her mother sleep in the bed while I took the chair at this desk. Hopefully figuring out this water situation will keep my mind busy tomorrow.

Art of Andrew provided by the DM of the campaign http://garloo2.tumblr.com/