By Christie "Muursha" Vasquez
Hello everyone! This is Muursha. You may remember me as a fighter at Queen of Hearts, but today I write to you as a chronicler of Rhune- always looking for new information to add to our humble archives. The following are snippets from my log from Ashen Bounty.
Friday, 10PM: I woke in the hull of a ship. You know, we orcs fight so hard, that when we sleep, we sleep like the dead. I was not terribly sure how I ended up down there, let alone where we had docked.
I climbed off the ship to a most beautiful land. Down the path lay a thrown-together tavern and makeshift cabins. Some adventurers entered the tavern, slamming down resources in front of… what appeared to be a glowing rod.
The rod introduced itself as “Layla, the leyline core” in a skipping mechanical fashion. How fascinating! I spent much time catching up with Layla, figuring out what exactly I had missed in my deep, orcish slumber.
Here’s the summary: we had landed on a series of islands that had been separated from the outside world for thousands of years by some barrier. Other areas have human settlements, but the area we found ourselves in is comprised of ruins.
These ruins are home to creatures called “hollows”. I had taken them for undead, but I was later corrected- they are people without souls, hence the term, hollow. They move mostly normally, fight normally, bleed, and even give birth normally, though incapable of speech. They seem to have a symbiotic relationship with wraiths - 8 or 9 foot tall shadows with glowing red eyes. Those creatures weren’t affected by normal weapon blows and did not in fact want hugs.
As you can guess, I had tested this hypothesis. In an effort to restore power to different parts of the town, we looked for oscillators, power crystals and resources. This took us over a bridge to an old cemetery, which marked my first encounter with hollows and a wraith. I tried my best to communicate with the hollows and wraith, but to no avail.
The individuals who lead us to this cemetery were Brimiri Wayfinders, from a settlement to the north. A charitable bunch, they sought information on “The Third Archon,” a being that would shape the rest of my stay on this island. Once we powered up this oscillator, we tried to head back to the tavern. The head of the wayfinders stayed behind to hold off the wraith and ensure that it did not follow us.
Our group then ventured to botanical gardens and found yet another oscillator! This one proved tricky. We carried it back to the tavern, where Rosetta and Lako poured themselves into it, overnight and into the next morning. In the meantime, I learned all about Archons.
Excerpt, Archons: Archons, when first described to me, seemed like gods, but they are more like strong, long-lived spirits. They shape their people, and their people shape them into a major aspect. The Brimiri, for example, follow the Archon of Charity, Brimir. The people to the south, the Arazeans, follow the Archon of Trade, Qo Zarak. Information on the last Archon eluded us until Saturday evening, but we found the archon of the lands we were in, the third archon, to be the Archon of Secrets. These Archons live amongst their people by passing through their people, passing to the next in line when their current host passes away. How Archons came to be is still not understood, but I’ve been told that they will eventually pass of old age.
The Archon of this land had sickened, and the land befell a great tragedy. All of the people died, hollows began to appear. Layla told me the Archon still lived, but that seemed impossible given the state of disrepair of this society. Both the Brimiri and the Arazeans came to this land for answers once their Archons fell ill, so that a similar fate would not affect their people.
Saturday, 4 PM: Some traders set up shop near the botanical gardens, and I had the pleasure of meeting some Arazeans. Like the Brimiri, they were excited to meet us outsiders, but their excitement was directed towards our culture and tradable goods, rather than for our barrier-crossing abilities.
Many adventurers searched for the tower where the Third Archon used to live, only to find it sealed from the outside world. We collected artifacts of the three archons: a Brimiri axe, lodged deep in the back of a hollow; an obelisk belonging to the Arazean's archon, and a golden owl feather. But no plans amongst adventurers go off without a hitch- nay, the obelisk was stolen, by an Arazean siding with rebels. She cast a lightning storm in her wake, and to get through it, we would enlist the help of eidolons.
Recipe for an eidolon:
- Two idolan helms, and two tabards
- Lots of living earth, from very unhappy earth golems with boulders
- A lot of effort! The spirit of effort yelled at us to run, fight till we dropped, do jumping jacks, push-ups, burpees, planks, AND bear crawl to the tavern. My muscles ache just thinking about it.
- Mold the living clay into faces. The two sculptors were sure to infuse it with all of that effort we gathered!
- Place the living clay faces in the helms, and on a railing with the tabard over them. Let the energy seep into their tabards, and, Viola! We had ourselves two very strong eidolons.
Our brave two earthen warriors walked into the lightning storm and absorbed the energy, allowing us to pass in their wake. We fought strong and true against wind elementals and their lightning bolts and rebels alike. Once the battle was won, we feasted like kings on a bounty of roasted vegetables, shepherd's pie, and baked macaroni. Not to mention the dessert! By the time all us adventurers stuffed ourselves like swine, hollows came knocking on the tavern doors, and it was finally time for us to make our way to the tower.
Now, I apologize, my fair readers, for I was cut down in the thick of battle. I will recollect what I can, but you will have to ask others for their versions of the tale.
In order to access the tower, we had to fight through hollows and purify the three artifacts. We placed the axe on a pedestal, and attempted to defend it from the hollows that swarmed from the outside.
Our group fell, as the corruption from the axe leaked off, and our open backs made a merry target. The secret keeper plucked a spell from Elouan and converted it into a Cry of Life, picking us up long enough for us to finish the ritual. I cannot say I was in high spirits- it was as if my love of life and my wits had been sucked from my very soul.
Before we could get to the next artifact, I was struck down. I have been told that the adventurers opened the tower, that the secret keeper was killed by a twisted version of the Archon, and that we killed that same Archon. I’ve heard that the archon was no longer the Archon of secrets, but had become an Archon of grief. What befell it, I cannot say.
Sunday, 1 PM: Sunday I awoke, my throbbing headache subsiding. We gathered what resources we could, reinforced the town to the best of our ability, and ventured back to the tower. After all, we had not yet removed the barrier from around the islands.
This puzzle required a piece of each element. We sought out elementals all across the island. One particular challenge that sent shivers down my spine were the flame elementals. Definitely one to be wary of- when they were taken down, they exploded with a final strike, over and over again.
Upon solving the final oscillator, the power was redirected to town, and took the barrier down. King Skyros arrived, using the same star chart our captain had used to get us here, and signed a trade agreement between Pacifica and these islands. It is because of his generosity that I am able to stay on these islands without getting stranded, as the trade vessels come and go fairly frequently.
Now, what awaits me? As I told you, dear readers, I plan to stay in this area. I’ll continue improving this foothold, and keep out whatever hollows come this way. I plan to work with both the Brimiri and the Arazeans while you all are gone, assisting the archons in whatever way I can. And you can bet, dear readers, that I’ll keep an ear out for any interesting information regarding Hollows or the nature of Archons.
Until next time, this has been your favorite Orc Chronicler,
Muursha (you’ve gotta put your tusks behind it!)