The Missing Reporter

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Bringing Light to the Darkness
GM: Jacqui
Season: Winter 800 WK

Party

• Jacinth
• Serra Angelus
• Quorash
• Vanderhan
• Sharina
• Daniel
• Aqualina

The party were hired to find and rescue a Seagate Times reporter, the pixie Ariel Glitterwing, who was researching on conditions inside the Dark Circle.

There are no scribe notes filed but the resulting article was published in Issue 31

A Report by Ariel Glitterwing.

If it wasn’t for the efforts of an intrepid group of Seagate Adventurers, I wouldn’t be here to write this report. I had been tasked with the job of investigating conditions within the Dark Circle so, early in the month of Frost, I flew off to have a first hand look. I knew I had crossed the border when I felt a chill through my body but that soon passed.

I did check the local plant life, but discovered that the nectar and berries I sampled had some sort of taint in their taste. I suspect that any animals caught by adventurers would also not taste as well as those outside the Circle. I would recommend that any adventurers trying to live off the land should wash their catch thoroughly.

The landscape looked normal as I headed towards the Brastor Holdings, although the usual sounds of birds was absent, and I soon arrived in the vicinity of the small village of Cottingley, not far from Brastor itself. There was a faint hint of the smell of decay in the air but otherwise there was nothing unusual to the casual observer. There were still people in the village engaged in normal activities and farm animals in the fields. However, when I flew closer, I noticed that the people’s movements looked slow, and there was a distinct lack of fresh cowpats in the field. When I got close enough to check auras, I discovered all the people and larger animals had been turned into zombies.

They could also see me, even though I was invisible. Within minutes I was under attack. Their behaviour was not mindless, as with normal zombies, and I suspected that they had some sort of group mind as their attack was rather co-ordinated. Even some large birds joined in the attack. I suspect their objective was to attack anything that came in the area in order to turn them into zombies serving the will of the power behind the Circle.

I was able to hold a few off with magic, such as Walls of Light and Bolt of Starfire, but I soon discovered these were tougher than the average zombie. They did take damage but it would need more firepower than I had to dispose of them. Some of them were able to get past my defence, including a coruscade, and I could feel part of my life force drained away by their touch. To make matters worse, at least one was a spellcaster, a wiccan to be precise. The most prudent course of action was to retreat, as fast as possible, as I could not take too many hits. The undead crows proved to be a bit of a problem when I tried to fly off. Instead I was forced to hide in the branches of a willow tree near the river. That was when I noticed the ring of mushrooms near the trunk of a nearby, more ancient, tree. It was a faerie ring and the magic of it would hold the undead off, similar in effect to a wiccan amulet. That was my escape route. So, while avoiding the crows and using the last of my bolts to deter their attacks, I dived towards the ring. Once there, I hopped from mushroom to mushroom in a predetermined pattern then, when the pool formed in the centre of the ring, dived into it.

I found myself in a more vibrant landscape, near a river, under a willow tree, above an identical circle just as the portal closed. I was now on the plane of Lyoneese, one of the faerie planes, where it is forever autumn. I did contemplate waiting until night and attempting to sneak through the portal but vetoed that thought as I knew that Undead do not sleep. I suspected they would be keeping a watch. I also suspected undead owls. The only other portal I knew of from Lyoneese to Alusia lay far to the north in central Ranke. It would take several weeks for me to fly there, use the portal and return to Seagate.

I decided to scout the local area in order to find some food. While I was doing that I encountered some local pixies who, after I told my story, told me that there was a village of humans nearby and one of them may be able to assist. So I went to investigate and discovered the village of Nottingley. I discovered from, Agatha Withey, the village wisewoman, and Namer, that here were the refugees from Cottingley, who had been willingly transplanted here by the intervention of the Daoene Sidhe from Tir Na Nog, in order to escape the Dark Circle. She told me to seek out the local witch, Esmerelda Beeswax, who could make an amulet that would help me get safely back through the circle.

I found Esmerelda in a hut, on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by several beehives. The sound of buzzing was very prevalent. After explaining my problem, she said that she could produce an Amulet of Jasper which would protect from the draining effects of the undead. I had to go and collect the necessary ingredients.

So that was what I did. It proved to be a simple matter to gather some of the ingredients although it did involve a lot of flying about. However, when I was after one ingredient, I ran into serious trouble. I was after some Moon Ash, in a place called Caer Percival. After receiving directions from a group of blue skinned pixies I was on my way there when I was attacked by a human on a flying carpet. I later found out this was Garamond, an evil wizard who was part Binder, part E&E and part Mind mage. A magical battle resulted which resulted in me being captured, under a paralysation spell and taken to his lair. He had taken over part of Caer Percival which had been abandoned several centuries ago. Upon arrival in his laboratory I could see several fey creatures, all suspended in blocks of amber. I knew for certainty that I was about to join his collection. Since I was still paralysed, there was nothing I could do as I was arranged in a suitable pose and a ritual performed. As it progressed I was lifted an inch off the desk then I felt something hardening around me as I slipped into unconsciousness.

The next thing I remember was being suddenly awoken and feeling rather stiff. A guild party had arrived and was in the process of rescuing all the captives with the aid of a magical hammer of unbinding they had found. I had never been so glad to see anyone in my life. Unfortunately Garamond was currently out of the castle so we could not deal with him personally.

They had already gathered all the required ingredients so we headed straight back to Nottingley. Once there, the amulets were manufactured and, after spending some time training, we went back through the faerie ring and made our way back to Seagate.

My thanks go to the adventuring party that rescued me. They were: Daniel Alderson, Vanderhand le Vircourt, Sara Angelas, Quorash, Jacinth, Sharinalauralana Feyradbaneadour and Aqualina.