Our mission this week took us into the Talenta plains to further investigate the spiritual malaise affecting the land. Instead of the Lightning Rail, we instead took a teleportation circle with the help of the Keepers’ ally Sheev. He seemed oddly interested in my psionic abilities, but no matter, the teleportation worked as expected.

We landed amongst the Hammertail tribe as they endured bombardments from the corrupted Daggerteeth tribe. The Hammertail leader gave us necklaces to shield us from the malaise and sent us to infiltrate the Daggerteeth fortress and stop their plan in order to open a path for the Hammertails to escape. On the way to the fortress, we were tempted each night by the malaise to remove our necklaces and embrace its power, but in part thanks to the tireless protection of our new paladin, Starlet, these whispers gained little traction. At first.

We encountered some flame elementals on the path that were trying to summon Flamemaw, and took it upon ourselves to scare them away so as to prevent a catastrophe. It’s unclear if they really could have completed the summoning, but better safe than sorry. The next day we encountered massive standing stones that teleported anybody near them into a locked room. Thankfully the only victim of this was Geoffrey the Snake, and we were able to bypass them without further incident after he was resummoned. It was only later that we learned these stones could be used to teleport the Daggerteeth army right into the midst of the Hammertails. In addition, we were able to decipher some runes on the side of the stones that indicated they belonged to House Orien: very high level magic.

On the last night before reaching the fortress, we were approached by a devil named Astarion, who claimed to want to help us. He offered us a backdoor entrance to the fortress in exchange for handing over a powerful weapon to him from the fortress: one capable of knocking the malevolent possessing spirits out of the dinosaurs. We refused, though it took some convincing on my part to get the rest of our group to see reason, and carried on.

As a result of our refusal, we had to find our own way into the fortress, which was surrounded by thousands of demon-possessed Daggerteeth. With an expertly executed plan involving cooking, several illusions, and a great deal of skulking about, we were able to trick the majority of the army into leaving the fortress and make our way inside through the secret underground entrance. It was here that we found the hammer Astarion had wanted, and Starlet was able to take it for herself to use in the coming battle.

I must admit, I don’t remember much of what came next. I remember there was a portal, and we tried to close it by having me sneak up invisibly. It didn’t work, and I was clinging to the edge of the portal for a moment before being knocked in.

Screams, tentacles, darkness. I remember even less from my few brief moments in the realm of Madness, but somehow I managed to cling to one of our foes who was using it to transport himself, and I popped out near one of the teleportation stones miles away. Though I shielded my mind as best I could in that journey, I still don’t feel quite myself. The whispers trickle at the back of my mind, always waiting for me to let them in.

The rest of the group seem to have won the fight without me, and after a day of waiting around with the Orien agent I captured, we were reunited as they journeyed back to the Hammertail tribe.

The agent was interrogated, and the corpse of their leader questioned. We learned that the portal had been another step on the path to summoning Flamemaw, and that in order to learn more we would need to question both Carver Cal and Overseer Ola. I care little for this questioning though. My head pounds and I just want to sleep, but every time I close my eyes I see Xoriat again.

Toryn