Nell's diary

Rise of the Runelords

This is a diary as written by Nell.
She started writing it as an exercise when learning to read and write.

The latest chapter is called Template:Rise of the Runelords chapter, in which Template:Rise of the Runelords chapter. It is chapter Template:Rise of the Runelords chapter of the Rise of the Runelords story.

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The Foxglove manor

Early in the morning I was woken by Velicia. She was unbearably spirited. I was still very tired and hadn't slept that good, even though I slept in a bed. I had had nightmares about ghouls appearing out of a dense fog attacking me with glaring red eyes. But after a quick breakfast, we left the sanatorium heading towards the bridge over Cougar's Creek. The sun had risen, but it was still quite dark below the heavy clouds. Still fog came rolling in from the west, giving the light a slightly sickly yellowish tone. We rounded the Ashen rise and turned south.

After crossing Soggy River I was on edge. I had all too well remembered the ghouls from yesterday in my nightmares. We reached the last bridge before the manor, crossing Foxglove River, and left the horses, guarded by Orik. He's proved to be trustworthy. And practical. Anyway, we didn't want any ghouls sneaking up on the horses while we were inside the manor.

We continued on foot turning west. The landscape was slightly up hill as we went along the river that ran in a deeper and deeper ravine. The weather kept the same or worse, with dark clouds and fog. As we got closer to the coast we noted from far away that on a small rise there was manor standing near the edge of the sea. As we approached it got colder. Before we reached the manor we stopped to prepare ourselves. Honeypot cast message and after some discussion, protection from necromancy on Nathaniel. Honeypot also quickened our step...

In front of the manor, there was the ruins of a burnt down outhouse. It's stone foundation, and a well was all that was left. Velicia, Dorothea and Honeypot took a closer look at the well. I and Nathaniel stayed on the road. Dorothea dropped a stone in the well. If they saw anything it wasn't worth mentioning to us. There were ravens sitting on the ruins. Dorotea said after staring at them that they were undead ghoulish creatures. Dorothea cast her magic at one, but missed. She didn't miss the second time. The other ravens took off. I walked up to Nathaniel and suggested that we should continue on to the main house. He agreed and told the others to hurry up.

We went up to the main doors and Nathaniel knocked on the door. I was surprised. I thought that we would sneak up to Aldern and just kill him. Then announcing our arrival in this way would be strange. There was no answer but as we waited and listened nervously someone said they heard sobbing from higher up in the house. Nathaniel tried the door, but it was locked. I tried the key we found earlier and it unlocked the door. We opened it and took a peek inside. I called out when the dim light from outside fell on the monster standing in the hall. It was a lion with a scorpions tail and a human head. Then I saw it was stuffed. Velicia said it was called a manticore.

The air inside was stale. Further in I could see trophies of animals hanging on the wall. There were fireplaces on both sides and a valve which was carved with gargoyles and skeletons. I don't like that motif. As we thought the sobbing came from upstairs we took the stairs to the immediate right in the hall room.

In the hallway beyond the stairs there were several doors. The first we opened were double doors past several other doors. Doro and Velicia entered, while I stood in the hallway by the door. There were a lot of paintings all covered with cobweb and dust. Velicia used her magic to clean them off and suddenly it got very cold in the room. So cold that there were ice crystals forming on the walls and the paintings changed. There were three on the right wall and five on the left. On the right Lorei, Vorel and Cassandra. They rotted away. Vorel burst out into the whole room. On the left there were Cyralee, Traver and three children, Zeeva, Aldern and Sandeli. Traver's throat was cut. Cyralee with red hair burnt and broke. Aldern turned into monster, but girls ok.

Continuing on through the room and another set of double doors there was the master bedroom. When entering I noted a shaving kit with a very beautiful silver shaving knife, that I thought moved. I felt a massive feeling of loss, like I had just lost someone very close to me. I couldn't quite explain it as I've never had anyone to loose. I reached for the knife but Nathaniel had already taken it and was looking at it. I still wanted it. Velicia got to look closely at it but not me.

Velicia took me back out to the room with the paintings. I continued out into the corridor. I didn't like the other room. Next we looked inte the next room with double doors. It was a room with a couch facing the sea with several large windows, but they were painted with scary bad pictures. There were also a some instruments. I didn't like the windows so I left for the corridor. I walked back it and stood outside a door. There was no one there and I hesitated and returned to the doors. I didn't want to be alone. The others were finishing up fooling around with the instruments. Dor said I should check the other room I just returned from.

I went back towards it and suddenly it felt very familiar. It felt like I had been there before. Nathaniel went out into the corridor and kept an eye on me. As I opened the door I could hear a child crying. I entered and Nathaniel followed. I realized that it was me crying and I knew that outside the room my parents was fighting. They weren't just screaming at each other but physically fighting each other trying to kill each other. I knew that whoever would win would come into the room and kill me too. I hid under the bed. Then my father walked up to the bed and leaned down to look under it. He held a knife in one hand and reached in under the bed with the other trying to grab me. Suddenly it was Nathaniel holding his sword and grabbing my leg pulling me out from under the bed. I could have sworn that it was my father, and I hardly remember what my father looked like. I was breathing heavily and had tears in my eyes. Nathaniel said I looked like I had seen a ghost. I stuttered some vague answer that I thought I heard people fighting in the corridor and got scared.

Dorothea joined us and looked at me stranger than normal. Then she told me to follow her and dragged me into that room with the paintings that I didn't like. She stood me against the left wall next to the paintings of the girls, and backed away. Velicia joined us, and Dorothea asked me
"What did you do when you were three years old?"
"I don't remember. Do you remember what you did when you were three?"
I answered. The others seemed to think that I might look a little like an older version of Sandeli, but I protested by telling them
"But I'm from Magnimar."

Velicia said that something was part shadowfell. I have no Idea what she meant.

The next room was a guest room filled with mold. Dorothea put a handkerchief over her nose and mouth and entered. She said that the mold attacked but she knew it was an illusion. Velicia said that I still looked very shook up and consoled me.

The next room we looked into was a bathroom. In the middle there was a heavy looking iron bathtub. Someone wondered "How strange to have a bathtub on an upper floor." Velicia entered the room to look in the bathtub, but before leaving the doorway she heard some creaking and grabbed hold of the doorpost as the floor gave way. When the dust settled I peeked down. It looked as if there was a bathroom below too and the tub landed on another tub. There were strange scratching sounds coming from below. We figured it was a rat trapped in the tub, and sure enough soon a rat found a way out and stood on its lower legs sniffing upwards toward us. It was horribly disfigured and obviously ghoulish. Velicia quickly filled both rooms with her magical fire burning everything there, instantly killing the rat.

Then Dorotea tried a door but it was locked. Nathaniel Velicia and Honeypot tried the door next to it and found a room where the furniture was smashed to pieces. Most of the room was broken, but a painting looked to be whole but hung turned facing the wall. Dorothea unlocked the door and told us there were stairs leading further up. Velicia used her magical hand to turn the painting on the wall. It was a painting of a woman that looked very much different than most of the others of the family of Foxglove. She had raven black hair and a definite rhenne look.

Nathaniel, Honeypot and Velicia went up to the painting to get a closer look. Suddenly Velicia backed away and Nathaniel struck at Honeypot, missing her wildly. Then he snapped out of it. There was a name on the painting, Iesha Foxglove. It seemed to be no older than a few years. Velicia turned it facing the wall again.

We continued up the stairs. The first room we looked into had a broken roof. There had been some repairs done. Then there were several storerooms. There was a bedroom for servants. The next room was some kind of study. There was a desk and chair. Two windows was again facing the sea, but had paintings. There was a knocked over telescope and a trapdoor in the roof that had been tied down with several wraps of rope.

The next room was yet another bedroom for servants. The sobbing was coming from this room. There was a mirror leaning against the wall. In front of it there was a woman sitting staring at herself in the mirror, sobbing. Dorothea who had been first, entered an muttered something about taking care of our own. She tried talking to the woman but she seemed unresponsive. I asked "Is she a ghost?" but Velicia or Dorothea answered that she wasn't insubstantial, whatever that is, and probably some other sort of undead being. Nathaniel moved the mirror and turned it facing the wall. The woman screamed in anger and swore a curse in Alderns name. I readied my dagger and took a defensive stance in the door where I stood. Iesha, as we had guessed that the woman was stood up and walked out of the room with firm steps. When she approached I opened the door behind me and backed into the room taking cover behind the door post. She walked right past me and the others followed her closely. Velicia stopped in front of me and stared into the room I was in. I looked behind me discovering that it was a library with magical things and quickly left, dragging velicia with me.

She led us downstairs, through the hallway, where I noted a strange monkey head with something in its mouth and a big mold spot on the floor. Avoiding it we continued down into the cellar. As Iesha stopped slightly at a closed door we were attacked by hoards of rats. They came from everywhere flooding the room. I threw my dagger killing one, making the rats next to it hesitate a little, and then retreated back up the stairs. There was some fighting downstairs and I saw Nathaniel move into view below the stairs. He was sweeping wide with his burning sword killing several of rats with each sweep. Velicia did the something similar and soon many rats lay dead all over the floor. I returned down the stairs and threw a dagger into another rat as I moved on following Iesha. But before I could catch up Honeypot ran past me. Soon I was back to second to last.

We followed her through a room with more painted windows. There were a lot of broken glass and cages with dead rats in them. As we went down another corridor I noticed an increase in stench of rotten flesh. I called out a warning, but I don't think anything happened up front. The corridor led to a structure that was elder than the rest of the house. A new set of stairs spiraled down into the ground.

It ended in a cave. Iesha continued on and we gathered closer around her. I had a bad feeling about those caves and sure enough there were ghouls hiding along the walls trying to ambush us. I threw my dagger into one making his black blood pour out. I then moved to the other side of our group next to Nathaniel. The ghouls gave out a cry and charged us. One attacked me, his strike pinning me in place with fear, but my new cape made sure I disappeared and appeared a few yards away. It completely fooled it making it vulnerable to my attacks. I used it's confusion to trow my dagger into it's back causing a deep wound spilling some awful goo. Nathaniel easily killed the heavily wounded monster. Honeypot played a melody that made every one of us dance. Even I stumbled a few steps on my limp legs.

We were killing off the ghouls and winning the battle, but Iesha never stopped or cared about the battle and we were loosing contact with her. I threw my dagger again but lacking any good opportunities I missed. I looked around but couldn't see any more enemies. That gave me my strength back. But soon there were more ghouls coming from the way Iesha went. Honeypot ran past me up to the new ones and exploded in light. Nearly all of the four new ghouls were dazed by the effect. I threw my dagger into one of the affected ones wounding it severely and used the confusion to sneak into a corner of the rock walls and hid. The ghoul I wounded charged passed me. Velicia joined our fight charging past me too and into the middle of the remaining ghouls attacking the one that avoided Honeypot's effect. Velicia was bleeding and looked very worn down so I moved quickly around a ghoul to get to her, once again thanking Honeypot for my light quick feet, pouring the last of the healing potions I got from the group in he. While activating my magical dagger I throwing it into one of the ghouls I saw Honeypot disappearing into the tunnel following Iesha. Nathaniel join in and strike down one of the ghouls and I stab the last one felling it. I quickly and quietly follow Iesha and Honeypot into the darkness.

The tunnel soon open up into a big cavern with a strange glowing pool deep down in the middle. Honeypot had whispered that there were goblins in it below the surface, but I didn't see any. There was a way leading up from it spiraling around the whole cavern and I quickly sneaked along the wall after Honeypot. Nathaniel stormed into the cavern lighting it some with his sword. Iesha had reached a closed and locked door and beat it down with surprising ease. Honeypot followed Iesha in but I threw a dagger in the back of one of the goblins when they exited the pool rushing toward Nathaniel before following her.

When inside the door I hid and continued down the tunnel toward a candlelit cavern where I heard fighting. When I peeked around the rough stone wall next to Honeypot I saw Iesha furiously attacking a strange looking monster that vaguely reminded me of Aldern. He had no hair, big pointy ears, greenish skin and a long tung. He had obviously turned into a ghoul, but still wore fine clothes. From next to him he grabbed a painting and held it up to Iesha. It was very much like the one we had seen hanging facing the wall. Iesha screamed and lost most of her spirit when faced with the picture of herself alive. I thought of throwing my dagger into him, when Honeypot stepped right out into the room, Aldern said
"You came to me! Let us consummate our hunger."
"What are you doing with that wench?"
she answered him, approaching him. With her blocking Aldern and hopefully having some plan. Nathaniel joined us in the room but didn't hide. I was still hesitating when I heard something behind me. Quickly I stepped out into the tunnel throwing my dagger into a surprised goblin ghoul killing it.

Iesha seemed to cower from the painting and lost some initiative in the fight she had been winning. Aldern on his part didn't loose spirit as he called his minions to come to him and assailed his dead wife with blows. Honeypot used that moment to trick the painting from him saying
"Would you prefer her to me?" holding it up next to her and then turned and ran behind Nathaniel who advanced to attack.

The goblin ghoul I just killed raised up, but I was too much in the fight to get scared then. I ignored it taking a few steps forwards, while it flailed wildly missing me. Instead I threw my dagger with all my might hitting Aldern in his belly. As it returned immediately I threw it again this time hitting him square in the chest. He fell to the ground gurgling.

"Argh... Save me... The Hunter is coming for me... He's riding me... Help me..." He reached a hand toward Honeypot who couldn't resist but ran up to him taking his hand. Noting that the fight was over Nathaniel left the room, telling me "Make sure he's dead." as he passed. I ignored the goblin ghoul who tried to attack me and joined Honeypot at his side.
"Where are your sisters?"
"The Skinsaw cult owns me... They manipulated me..."
"Your sisters? Tell me!"
"One married and moved to the Greater Kingdoms. The other was taken by Ironbriar."

Then he was interrupted by Iesha attacking him, killing him and at the same time she turned to dust. Honeypot ran out to the others. I followed with a heavy heart and killed the goblin ghoul on the way out. Was I the little sister of Aldern? Was there any truth to Dorothea's joke? What about my parents in Magnimar? Was my memory from the nursery my actual memory and not one of the strange spooky things this house did to us all? I was taken by Ironbriar, but I escaped. It might just be true.

In the large cavern Velicia and Dorothea had had a hard fight against the other goblin ghouls and all the ghouls we had killed before that had been raised by Aldern earlier, but they had been victorious.