Journal of Miyara Kyosuke (66)
At some point I must have passed out from my wounds.
(The air elementals pulverized the statues' remains
and wreaked general havoc, but did not injure anyone any further.
They then left by the door. There had been several scraps of
paper in this room when we entered, and those have been
scatttered. Those awake gather them together so that Goru can
read them when he wakes.
An hour later, Rabena wakes and tends to the wounded.
Pireseri sets up traps protecting the doorways.
In twelve hours, if not treated I may die.
When I awaken from unconsciousness, Rabena has been
tending me. She immediately sits down to rest for a couple of
hours before healing Ashu. She continues the healing and resting
cycle for some time.
Once Goru is awake, he goes through the papers and
the scroll case. The case contains several items, five or so
pieces of paper rolled in the tube. He quickly sorts them into
two kinds: two scrolls, scroll-like an ancient; three pieces of paper
of more modern origin, just rolled up with the scrolls.
The three newer pieces are written by Sundrim.
They are notes torn from some journal. The first says, dated KG
3rd day, that the translation of the fragment on their first search:
"The roaring of the lion brings fear to the heart of even the most
fearless. The singing of the birds call all to stand in
wonderment. The fall into the darkness is a never-ending journey
and there shall all who cross their path return."
The second, "KG 5th day,: which tomb is
Hargrim's? More continue to be discovered. When we know
when all have been found? The tomb opposite the throne seems
likely, but opening every tomb would waste time and lives, and Cranneg
stresses the importance of both, and the master trap still eludes us."
The third, "KG, 7th day. Established: three
scrolls exist, to be read in a certain order. We have the first
and third, and the second is missing. Surmised: to enter
the^H^H^H any tomb without first completing the ritual is
dangerous. Inscriptions may be interpreted as
cave-in. Conclusion: it is imperative that we find the
third scroll. It is not logical that it would be hidden in or
around the tombs, but everywhere else in the hold must be
searched. We dare not risk destroying the hold and burying the
crown."
I point out that this means that they are after it
too.
The other two, scrolls, are ancient and Goru says
they appear to be in the same style as the one we already have, in much
better shape, but also in archaic dwarven in which he is not skilled.
Miyara says that we must leave this room and go
somewhere more hidden and safe.
First, however, we check the other door in this room
which leads to a room with no other exits. Hosei says there is
nothing specifically magical here, but the place reeks of frustration
and death.
The room seems particularly dim, as if the light
does not seem as bright in here. This is odd, as I can see
perfectly in what others see as darkness.
On the far wall I see an ancient blood splatter,
dried and stained on the otherwise light stone wall. I point it
out to Miyara. The room has orchish graffiti on the wall, but it
appears to have been rubbed off as if someone or something has been
trying to clean it.
I say, "Excuse me," into the room. "Is anyone
there?" Miyara reminds me of the statues, I remind her of the
scroll. I say if there is trouble, to leave me, and she says that
is unacceptable. But she says that if I wish to go in, go ahead.
Miyara and I step in together. The room is
empty. The weight of the gloom is obvious. I bow
respectfully to the stain. Pireseri has jooined us in the room.
Out of the stain steps the raging ghost of a long
dead dwarven queen. She screams terrifyingly at the two of us, I
abase myself appropriately. She ravages me violently but causes
no physical damage.
Miyara pulls out a random origami piece from her
pouch and offers it, bowing respectfully.
Pireseri pulls out his special dagger and prepares
to stab her in the back where her heart would be, despite Miyara
telling him to stop and not attack. He does pause.
She continues her attack on me, vanishing as she
passes through me. I spend some time apologizing profusely to the
stain. Pireseri puts his knife away and says something.
Miyara backs out bowing. After my apology I leave too, and
Pireseri locks the door behind me.
(Behind them, Miyara and Pireseri notice that Goru
stands up, drops everything, and begins walking towards one of the
other doors -- one that Pireseri had trapped.)
Pireseri calls to Goru as he walks to a door, and
Miyara intercepts him and tries to stop him. She cannot do
so. Pireseri tries to stop him too. Miyara yells to the
others in barbarian, and then calls me to help. I run over to
stop him too.
Pireseri grapples him and throws him to the ground.
I run over as Goru stands up. Miyara and I
drag him to a halt, but he never stops trying.
Pireseri disarms his trap on the door, just in case
Goru makes it there. This is the door that eventually leads to
the stairs down. It is the door through which we first came up
when we came here.
Goru does not respond to me talking to him. I
suggest speaking to him in dwarvish, but Pireseri tries to hypnotize
him, and after a minute or two clearly expects Goru to have no desire
to leave. It has no effect. Hosei addresses him in
"dwarvish", but Goru again does not respond.
I suggest putting him in the stain room, as I
believe him to be possessed by the dwarven queen. Miyara simply
wants to knock him out. I say nothing, of course, but perhaps she
is succoumbing to barbarian ways.
Hosei says, however, not to knock him out because he
has other things to try. He is working on my theory, and tries to
talk to the queen and work his friendly magic to convince her to talk
to us.
After a short while, Goru stops struggling and seems
to be listening. After a few more minutes, he answers in dwarvish.
Hosei tells us that it is in fact the queen who has
possessed Goru. She is desperate to find her body, as she needs a
proper burial. I pledge my life to finding her body and giving
her a proper burial. Hosei reminds me that she died over a
hundred years ago; I remind him that as I released her, it is my
responsibility. Hosei has promised that we all shall help her
find her body if she will stop trying to walk off by herself and come
along with us. She seems to agree. Goru still stares
wide-eyed with glowing black eyes. I would offer my body if I
were a dwarf.
Hosei asks Miyara what next, and she says to ask if
she can read the scrolls. GQ takes them, and begins sobbing
uncontrollably. She still has not come to terms with her
death. Hosei speaks with her, and she can indeed read them.
I say that we need to tell her what we're
doing. It would be wrong to mislead her if we want her
help. We should tell her that we are seeking the tomb of Hargrim
because we want the sogin roku of water to fight Chaos.
Miyara agrees. She looks at Hosei, expecting
him to translate and tell her. GQ says no, she will not help us
raid the tomb. I bow to her response.
Miyara asks if she died in that room. Hosei
asks her, and she says that yes she did. Miyara again relays
through Hosei if she knows where her body was moved, and she says
no. She says she cannot bear the thought of entering
word-approximating-"death" without her body.
Miyara says, cryptically, that the other ghosts
would not know.
I wonder whether we should find her body first or
not, but Miyara points out that only the queen and Goru stand a chance
of reading the scrolls, and the queen will not help us. We need
Goru back first.
Unfortunately she knows little of her death.
She knows the orcs attacked and cornered her in that room where she
died, but knows nothing of what happened to her body afterwards.
At my suggestion, we ask her name and who was with
her at the time. Her name is Kervista. She died
alone in the room, and assumes that her husband died, and guards and
everyone else died defending her room. She tells us her husband's
name, but none of us have heard of it before. She does however
think she will feel it if we get near her body. When we stopped
her, she was going to look for her body, but doesn't know where she was
going.
It is suggested that her bones might be with the
rubble the orcs left somewhere in here, but that doesn't help
much. We could look at those, at least.
We gather up the important papers and scrolls.
Everyone is now healed. So we go off to seek orc rubble.
We start with the dwarf ghost who threw bones at us
in the dungeon. Rabena says she thinks she can get us there
without running into the dwarves. She directs us there.
We reach the dungeon. Nothing here feels
familiar to her. We suggest the ghost in the pit might have some
information, and she might talk to him where we have failed. As
GQ looks down the hole, the ghost screams up at her. She screams
back at him and they yell for a while. Hosei says he blames her
for leaving him down there, and she blames him for not helping,
although it is clear he could not help having been put in the hole for
a good reason. Apparently the orcs never found this place and he
died of starvation.
Hosei ushers GQ away from the hole and looks to
Miyara for leadership. I suggest that we could get GQ's help to
enter the Great Temple, where orcan skeletons were on the floor.
It would not be deceiving her, as we would indeed be looking for her
body. There were, however, only orcan skeletons in there, reports
Pireseri.
At my suggestion we show her the map with the area
we could not interpret, but she does not recognize it at all.
Miyara studies Rabena's map for areas with signs of
orcish occupation. There are still a few areas we have not
checked yet, and perhaps one of those would provide the answer.
First we check the kitchen storeroom area.
Pireseri tells us what is here. In the kitchen, on the butcher
block, are remains of several dwarven skeletons that have been chopped
up by axes. There are ovens, and in them are the charred remains
of several more dwarves. There are no remains of orcs in here.
Miyara asks Hosei to tell GQ gently what she is
about to walk into. Even before we open the door, she is slightly
upset.
We open the door. GQ begins weeping horribly
again. She is obviously extremely upset, and is making her
upset. I try to calm her down, but Hosei manages to suceed.
He then tells her what I said, and she goes into a higher level of
keening, so much more upset than before. I wonder what it was I
said? Miyara guides her out of the room and shuts the door, where
the others calm down her noise a lot and her intensity of emotion a
little.
Miyara talks with her while I stay out of the way,
but apparently the queen's body was not in that room.
Beyond that room, reports Pireseri, is a dining
room. It was sealed by the expedition because of the
atrocities. The orcs had gathered all the remaining dwarves and
used them to hang from the ceiling for target practice. The dead
bodies still hang from the ceiling, held together with clothes and
armor, where they were for the orcan celebratory feast.
The door between the kitchen and the dining hall was
broken down. The queen would no doubt react very badly to the
room. Perhaps Hosei has a spell to keep things quiet?
We go in under Hosei's coverage. The queen
remains calm this time. She weeps but does not break down into a
screaming fit. GQ tells us that her body is not here
either. She recognizes the clothing and armor of a few of them
here, and is saddened further.
It is time to move on to the next area. I hope
for the queen's sake that it will be less disturbing.