Notes in a bottle...

12th of Erastus, 4710


Worst morning EVER! Well... That may not be entirely true. It IS the worst morning that I can remember in a very long time...

I should start at the beginning. Or at least the important parts. I was a passenger of the cargo ship Jenivere. I'm not sure where I am, or how we got here. I am not the only survivor. There are 10 of us that I know for sure. The survivors are... Aerys Mavato, Gelik Aberwhinge, Ishirou, Jask Derindi, Sasha nevali, Randulion Suavage, Reagen, Deklan Greenfellow, Kali'chatu, and myself, Corrigan Desmond.

We all seemed to awaken on a beach to the attack of scorpion/crocodile monsters. Personally I have never seen anything of their like, but I imagine to those who pass out regularly on the beach, they may be second nature. The half-orc Kali'chatu and the bearded man Randulion dispatched the scorpodiles rather quickly.

After so rude an awakening the first mystery to solve was where we were... Wherever it was, whatever had happened it was done intentionally. There were tracks on the beach indicating multiple trips with the lifeboat, and all our possessions were stacked in a pile. The last thing any of us could recall was sitting down for dinner on the ship. One of my fellow castaways... I think Reagen... I was still mildly panicking, recognized that we had been drugged.

So... naturally I'd like to find and have word with the cook. And by word, I mean punch him repeatedly in the face...

Randulion seems to insist on taking charge of our little group of survivors. Trouble is, I don't think he's any better suited to lead than anyone else. We've instantly started off on the wrong foot. He's brash and overbearing... and I tend to chafe under authority... It should be interesting. Ideally we can get off this rock and back on schedule before either of us tries to kill the other in his sleep.

Not wanting to just hang around the beach all day, I jumped at the chance to explore with the others. Good thing too. shortly past the bluff we found the Jenivere. It is destroyed. I don't know what happened... I was one of the first ones to climb down to the ship, but the others in our search party, Kali and Randulion most noticeably quickly joined me. Deklan stayed up on the cliff with a crossbow.

The crew was gone. Well... to be fair most of the crew was gone. Of the entire crew we only found two bodies. The lifeboat was exactly where it should have been. Now... as the picture paints itself to me... this indicated that they drugged us... Took multiple trips to maroon us on the beach. Went BACK to their ship... sailed 200 yards and crashed. It seems ... off to me. There should have been more bodies.

The first mate, Alton Devers was found killed by the 'scorpodiles'. The cook was found too when scavenging for salvageable supplies. He appeared to have been killed by massive snake of some sort.

I'll admit... on discovering THAT, I had no more desire to stay in the ship. Let ALONE punch him repeatedly in the face... Kali' joined me below and helped clear out the rest of the gear in half the time, but I'll admit I was exhausted by the time we retrieved everything we could. Including maps, charts, the captains journal and few loose items from his quarters. Including a nice bottle of brandy which I tucked into my belt. Depending on how long I nurse this thing... it 'may' be the bottle you find this letter in. If not... I probably swiped one from the Alchemist... He's got so much JUNK, he'll never notice.

Upon returning to the beach, Randulion immediately started taking control again. He insisted on setting up a shelter. Apparently he wants to stay for a while... I'd rather go over the maps and find out where we ARE... and what the odds of rescue are... there could be a city just down the shore and we don't know!!!

Between the books and charts and whatever's rattling around in his head there, Reagen seems to think we may be on Smuggler's Shiv. A small island known for scuttling ships like the Jenivere was... but also ghosts, monsters, and cannibals! IF that is where we are... there is a lighthouse in the southwest area of the island. IF we're on an island... I've still seen too little evidence based on our small beach to make any assumptions.

Aerys seems to be hitting the bottles pretty hard. I hate to say it... but I suspect she'll be the first one dead. She seems to prefer 'drinking heavily' over 'try to ensure survival.' Which is a shame really. She's quite the looker. A couple days ago the idea of being stuck on a deserted island with the other half-elf, or even Sasha would have been appealing. Funny how the reality is very different.

Jask is another mystery. One that is fairly low on my priority list. Someone Captain Kovack seemed to think dangerous enough to keep locked up, but not dangerous enough to kill outright. Seems more trouble than it was worth to ditch him here with the rest of us. When I asked what he'd done... he said he'd been accused of 'swindling' and captured by the Sargosa navy... Seems totally unjustified to me. Even if he isn't as innocent as says he is... Swindling is hardly a crime... And if he's chained then he can't help Randoulion with the stupid tent.

So once he promised not to kill us in our sleep... his chains mysteriously fell off. Truly an amazing sight. FYI, he 'seems' a decent enough fellow.... but if by the time you find this note and come to rescue... If he's the only one left... hmmmm... use your own judgement.

That afternoon it rained. REALLY Rained... REALLY REALLY Rained... Enough to ensure there would be no living with Savauge now... Soooo smug... Still Kali'chatu thought enough ahead to use the rain water to fill as many containers as we had... so that's a good thing. We've got enough food for only a couple days feeding all ten of us... The half-orc seems convinced can hunt, and the alchemist seems to think he can fish... we may be able to keep food plentiful...

But the rum is on a limited supply. Come Quickly!!

13th of Erastus, 4710

Sooo much pain. I can barely sit to write out this letter. I'm never going to make it... Odds are I'll never even get this letter back to the water... Nobody will ever find my body, and I'll be eaten by some passing monster. I'm sure of it!

Well... it wasn't a dream. We actually ARE stranded on a worthless jungle island full of monsters and cannibals. Well... To be fair, I haven't actually seen a cannibal yet. But until proven otherwise I'll assume they're around. Surrounding us... waiting...

DESPITE our earlier plans to head to the southwest and find the lighthouse... (I STILL refuse to acknowledge we're on Smugglers Shiv until I know for sure!) Though if your reading this and ARE near the Shiv... please come check!!! The others are quite certain!!!

Like I was saying, despite our previously established plans... one of the other passengers felt the need to speak up. He suggested before we ever plan on leaving the beach, we should see what is around the camp first. I disagree. I'm more interested in WHERE we are.. and how we get OFF.. then I am what's around us... but I was outvoted.

So Next I had a choice. Stay on the beach and do nothing... or go into the jungle and hope I don't die. Sadly, I've never been very good at doing 'nothing.' So into the jungle we went.

I HATE the jungle. It's HOT... It's SWEATY.. the bugs are as big as cats... We walked... and we walked... Occasionally we climbed down looking for treasure or caves... which I hoped had treasure in them... And we walked. Unfortunately today all I found were gigantic dinosaurs/bird things. Gigantic may be a strong word. They were big enough to bite right of the rope if they wanted too.. but not big enough to ride.

The thought crossed my mind.

Our crossbowmen did quite well against the bird/lizard things. Eventually we found their nest... or SOMETHING's nest... In hindsight it was probably a stupid idea to go climbing down there... but after being nipped at on the rope there, I wanted SOMETHING to show for my trouble... Sadly, I didn't get it. There was nothing in the nest except me and Kali'chatu. As soon as we got to the nest, she was ready to go back up.

We traveled all over this horrid jungle, but I have the feeling there is a lot more there... Honestly, I don't know WHERE I am... I'm following the half-orc... she seems to have some idea what she's doing. We had to have walked about 14 hours straight today... I can't believe how much my legs hurt. I'm sitting down now... I hope nothing comes in the night... if it does, I don't know if I'll be able to stand to fight it off...

15th of Erastus, 4710

Hello again, This is note three of... who knows how many? I am a survivor of the ship Jenivere. I am stranded on what is probably Smuggler's Shiv. Although if there is a 'Goat Island' or a 'Dinobird Island' those are also excellent candidates.

I no longer have any misconceptions. I am going to die on this miserable rock. Desna preserve me, I've had too many close calls already.

Besides my THREE near death experiences, not much has happened. Last night after writing my previous letter (collect them all!!) we were attacked on my watch. I... I'm not sure what happened. I shouted an alarm and swung at the dinobird... but then there was piercing pain and darkness. The next thing I knew I was being revived by Jask. Just going to prove that removing those chains was an excellent decision.

After spending the night by the edge of the cliff we started to head back... It all becomes a haze of jungle, pain, and death... There was another ship. From our vantage point it appeared as broken and demolished as the Jenevere. Still with the potential of treasure and supplies I was the first to suggest examining it. Kali' and I started the climb down.

THAT was a mistake. Still sore from the unaccustomed exercise and the 'nearly being dead...' I nearly fell down the side of the cliff to my death. Would have too if hadn't been the quick thinking of Deklan.

The mage did something and I was suddenly light as feather.. for a moment anyway. Long enough for me to grab the rope again and scurry over side. On second examination the boat is trashed, and I doubt there is anything useful in it.

Shortly later, we were again attacked by Dinobirds... Once again they seem to enjoy the taste of half-elf... Within moments one was chewing on my flesh.. and the next moment I was again waking up to see Jask.

When we returned to the camp... my... Assessment of out current predicament may have caused a small panic. Oh well... I feel the 'we're going to die!!! There's nothing but death in the jungle' was a fair assessment of what I saw..

We spent that night getting attacked by random giant rats... One of which I killed. It as agreed to finally search for the lighthouse... but our archers wished to spend the day making arrows. Considering the need for range, I wish I'd packed my shortbow.. but make do with what you have.

So we spent a day on the beach and that night we were attacked by more Scorpdiles. I killed one of them too... I'm actually fairly efficient against creatures I can reach and haven't already killed me.... Sasha was also pretty efficient! She uses the same style of sword as I, but I really prefer watching her swing it! Most impressive...

The next morning we headed out to the jungle. If we find a lighthouse we'll know where we are... I have mixed feelings. If we're on Smuggler's Shiv it is a very inhospitable place with death all around us... if We're NOT on Smuggler's Shiv... then we're simply lost. That's not exactly 'better'.

More dinobirds attack....There are REALLY a lot of these things on the island... They can't come into the treeline, so... that's where I've spent my time. Either that or throw the few daggers I have... probably over the cliff. Nope... get to where they can't hit me, and wait for the archers to finish them off...

Which they seem to be getting pretty good at.

So... That's what happened these few days... not much to add other than please come quickly... the island wants my blood... and has already claimed enough of it! We have no treas... I forgot to mention the TREASURE!!! we found an old smugglers cave LOADED with gold and jewels!! we've all agreed to share the majority of it with our rescuers!!! This is one of ten identical notes I've sent... Please come quick!!!!

18th of Erastus, 4710

HURRAY!!!! I did NOT die to today! Didn't even come incredibly close! That's the first time I've been able to say since getting marooned on this hellish island! I am a survivor of the ship Jenivere. Me and nine others are still alive and on what is supposed to be Smuggler's Shiv.

Rescue would be much appreciated...

Well... we're back in the jungle again. Half of our budding society remains at the beach hoping to spot a ship, my half of the group including Kali, Reagan, Randoulin, Deklan, and Jask are in search of the lighthouse. IF there is a lighthouse. I'm hoping there is... It's better to know WHERE you are then to have no idea at all... even if it's KNOWING that your on the island of cannibals.

On this particular journey we heard a waterfall in the distance. Thus causing us to abandon the shore line and head deeper into the jungle. It was a questionable decision, as it's abandons ANY chance of seeing a ship in the distance. To be fair... I'd say these notes are our best chance to get off the island. The others seem to be entirely TOO comfortable here. Kali seems right at home in the jungles, Reagen and Deklan seem to be creating their own language... when they aren't planning our new society.

So.... yeah, PLEASE COME FAST!!!!

Where was I... WATERFALL! Right!!

We were close when we chose a camp. The eternal rain was pouring down and we were just tired of looking so we camped down... Kali did some hunting... I was attacked by Skeletons... Reagen spent some time fiddling with his junk. Kali found a new friend in the shape of a terribly ornery monkey. It threw.. well... It's best not to go into details, but the monkey and I are not starting off on a good footing. Which only makes sense since it came from the jungle, and nature itself seems to abhor my very existance.

After some searching we found the waterfall... On a whim I dove in. It was deep, cool, and very refreshing, but the others seemed.... concerned about Corrigan-eating fish... Ridiculous! The pool was entriely too small.. and much to fresh water for sharks... I don't know what they were concerned about.

In the process of trying to work our way up and around the bluff... Kali found two sets of prints! Fairly fresh, one male. the other female... I'm of the mind that they are the Captain and his woman. We immediately abandoned the search for high ground and started tracking the captain.

I don't know what we'll do when we find them. Personally.... I'd like to stab him repeatedly in the face! This is all his fault... HE abandoned our course and came to this stupid place! We were drugged and ditched on a deserted beach... He needs a good stabbin'.

On a kinder, gentler note... he COULD have just killed us in our sleep, tossed us overboard and kept our stuff... I don't know what to think! If this had been planned from the beginning then why take passengers in the first place?? It took multiple trips to maroon us, so why bother?

On the plus side... Nature seems to hate Randoulian too. As we tracked the treacherous captain, the biggest snake I ever saw attacked the knight. I threw a dagger... and promptly lost it in the jungle.

Sigh....

Fortunately we were able to kill it, much to Kali's dismay. I don't know WHAT her problem was... It was a snake!! Creepy, slimy, choke you to death while you sleep... SNAKE!

Probably would have eaten her monkey too!

After this we chose to camp for a while... I found my dagger. She skinned the snake.. Everyone was exhausted... well... at least I was exhausted.

I hate the jungle!


Corrigan Desmond - Castaway

18th of Erastus 4710... I think??

Time is getting harder to tell. We... the survivors of the Jenivere are wandering the jungle right now in search of the treacherous captain who drugged us and left us on the beach to die. Though we still haven't found the supposed lighthouse to the Southwest of the island... we operate under the assumption that we are indeed trapped on Smuggler's Shiv.

Today was a terrible day. Jask the priest we found in chains, has confided in us that he was in fact innocent of any crimes committed against the Sargosa government... He was certain that he could clear his name and live a long happy life if he discovered the journals of another pirate captain rumored to have been lost in this area years ago.

Considering the condition of Jenivere after a few days, the odds Fate smiled upon our friend. Later that afternoon we came across the very ship (the Brine Demon) he sought. It was destroyed, and useless... but in the captain's quarters we did indeed find the books he was looking for.

With our new friend holding the evidence that could clear him and implicate the very people who had framed him, the priest started dancing around on the deck of the rotted deck. I tried to warn him that such was NOT a god idea, when the floor opened up and he fell halfway through. I laughed pretty hard till the Dinobird suddenly swooped down and bit him in half, splashing gore over us all.

Jask was instantly killed. We mourned him that night and buried his legs. We still have the journal books because they seemed important, but it seems only Jask was able to decipher them... Even the most intelligent of us have no idea what they actually mean. Still... On an island like this, Paper comes at a premium.

We tried to find the captain's tracks again and that seemed to take forever. This jungle is sing in, and nearly everything looks the same. We pretty much follow Kali wherever she wants to go, because she sounds confident and I don't know any better. I'm not sure what she's following... I consider myself fairly observant... and on occasion I spot something, but it really only 'means' something to her!

The Half-orc has spent some time caring for the sick alchemist, who seems to be showing REMARKABLE signs of improvement. After a few days it was determined he was cured of his 'filth fever'.

After following the tracks for what seemed like forever, Kali declared it had met with a 'game trail'. We 'joked' that it was probably a cannibal hunting ground. Shortly afterwards, Kali sprung a trap and went soaring into the air on a noose trap into some tree spikes. With a little Acrobatic ingenuity, I was able to help her down.

Trail signs mean nothing to me. Traps I'm a bit better at recognizing. This means that now while, Kali is still the first in order... I'm up there too. Not overly comfortable with that... but it was useful. I spotted a couple more traps... and ALMOST stopped her from tripping another... I was Soooo close.... But it all worked out fine.

After that we found another lost sailor cowering near a tree... His name is Jay, and he is also a priest. While he'll never be a substitute for our dear departed Jask... he was able to Heal Kali from some spike damage and is now a welcome member of the castaways.

By now... the tracks are impossible to find. Either mixed in with the animals and cannibals, or washed away from the rain. so we've decided to camp again. I'm feeling a bit... off. Whether from outright exhaustion, or jungle malady I don't know... Still wouldn't be surprised if I'm the first one the jungle claims... It's attacks on my have gotten weaker... but I can feel it's hatred... I still think I'll be the first one dead.

Not counting Jask. He's totally dead!


Corrigan Desmond - Castaway

20th of Erastus, 4710


This is the island of HATE.

Yesterday, I believe we had our first run in with the legendary Cannibals. I was able to find a trap... but wasn't 'quite' fast enough to miss it. We were traveling through a gorge in search of the treacherous captain, so instead of getting flung up a tree... I was flung up the cliff wall... Then slowly dragged towards the waiting cook pot!

I never actually SAW the cannibals... but I wasted no time in cutting myself free, and Deklan's quick feather fall spell saved me some more bruising on the way back down. Kali.... who apparently doesn't have a LOT of sense... ran TOWARD the people who wanted to eat her!! It was a questionable decision... but seemed to work. When she reached the top she had successfully scared them all away.

After that, Regan created a trap finding stick... which to me, looked like a... stick. But he seemed very proud of it, and it did its job quite functionally. Triggering everything in front of us, the stick allowed us to keep a closer eye out for actual enemies... Which is good.

Kali saw a dragon.

She kept pointing at it, and I still never saw it... but she seemed quite confident... so I'm sure it was there... Apparently it is VERY poisonous... and Regan wanted to go after it. Thankfully the alchemist was voted down.

That night as we camped... we were attacked by the ghost of the pirate captain. I don't know what he wanted... the golden locket with his girlfriend... or his old rusted hook. It was decided after it was dispatched, that both should be buried and left behind. I wasn't overly pleased about losing my locket... but since it wanted to rip MY throat out... I conceded...

The next morning we were in for a surprise. The Jungle is nothing but a big wad of HATE... Also. It is MEAN!!! Just... just Mean!!!

While I believe the wild is starting to get to everyone... Randoulion was up all night making the worst noises imaginable. Those in the know amongst us, diagnosed the poor poor man with Dysentery.

It's a cruel, cruel jungle... and I wouldn't wish such a thing on anyone!! NOBODY deserve the horrendous pain and misery... and mocking that poor poor man had to put up with... And it's all the jungles fault! First Filth Fever for the Alchemist, now Dysentery for the poor... poor.... knight.

It just isn't right... It will probably kill him. The painful noises he makes leads me to think he's already dying...

On the plus side, today we found the lighthouse!!! It was on the south west side of the island, just where its supposed to be. We ARE on Smuggler's shiv!! Come get us... FAST!!!

We MAY even still be alive!! It appears we're about to mount some kind of offensive on the cannibals. I actually SAW them... While I've never seen Cannibals before... I have NO doubt that's what they are!!

Natives... scars and tattoos all over them... hungry look in their eyes... If they DO eat us... I can only hope eating me, makes them drastically sick and die....


And of course Randoulion... he'll kill them faster I'm sure...


Corrigan Desmond-
Castaway of the Jenivere

21st of Erastus, 4710

Well.. today's been miserable. First we take what HAD to be the scenic route. Considering how long Kali had us wandering the jungle... Maybe it just felt long to me... every step in this jungle has become an ordeal. Radoulion's Dysentery is quickly becoming more than just a nuisance... the pain is unbearable. I truly pity the man.

Well... after wandering the jungle till we reached the other side we were immediately set upon by hostiles. Deklan threw up some mist of some sort, and I don't really know what happened after that. I saw one Native and stabbed him dead. Soon the others came out of the mist and when it cleared only the survivors of the Jenivere were still standing.

From THIS side of the compound I immediately started scaling the wall to get a better look at the situation. I saw nobody. Hopefully the natives have all eaten themselves and we got the last four. Somehow I doubt we'll be that lucky. Seeing nothing of use... Ohhh except for a cage with Skeletons in them... Active skeletons. I suppose THAT is unusual.... nice to know a cannibal doesn't waste any of us...

Regardless.. I was right at the base of the lighthouse. NORMALLY I'm very nimble... but today... with the stomach cramps... (From HUNGER) It was remarkably difficult to climb to the balcony. I fell more than I climbed and each time I did I thought I was going to die... But I didn't and nobody seemed to heard me.

Eventually I was able to get to the open balcony and secure a rope for the others. I could hear voices coming from the opposite side of the curtain and so using a very complicated and skillful form of silent communication, I instructed Kali to be the first one up and kill everyone up here. Which she attempted to do.

Why... I don't know... but as she rushed through the door/window chopping and killing, I followed right behind her. Inside was the biggest, ugliest man I've ever seen. Tattoos and scars all around him and surrounded by a roomful of native females in various forms of undress... Sadly the reality does not match the fantasy in this case. The women were just as scarred and tattooed as the men folk and just as harsh on the eyes.

Though maybe after a few months abandoned on the island... one's standards drop...

Regardless... I have to assume this massive man surrounded by women was the chief of this particular tribe. He certainly fought like one. Kali charged from the front, while I tried to get behind him. Deklan was the next in the room and turned on the women.

The chief fought like an animal. He tore into Kali something fierce and wiped her blood all over his face. Horrifying. Together we fought a good fight, but Kali went down under his massive sword, and I was still sore from my poor attempts at climbing. The battle was decided by a crossbow bolt from Deklan that ended the chief's life.

Quickly Jay was able to bring Kali back up to fighting form. While searching we found a ton of treasure, and managed to secure the room a bit. Deklan had the woman folk captured and they didn't speak a word of 'proper' speaking. Apparently he could understand them, but not speak to them. In fact, the way Regan and Deklan have been bragging up their linguistical achievements NEITHER of them understood a word of what these 'ladies' had to say.

So... I felt the need to take over negotiations. Through some amazing mime work and Deklan's magically translating their responses... we learned that Ieana had come to town, and spoken with Malikadna and met Mother Thrunefang 'down below'. They didn't like Ieana... and was glad that she had left. When asked where Malikadna was, they laughed and talked about how they were going to eat us... there was a complete lack of respect in the room.

After hearing no objections, It was decided that the best way to earn a cannibals trust was to stab it in the face till it was dead. Then ask the same question again to their friends. That was a remarkable success. After the 'leader' of the women was dead, the next one immediately pointed on my makeshift map where the shaman was located.

Honestly... I didn't like the look on her face when she answered... I'm PRETTY sure she was sending us to die. Soooo after SHE was stabbed in her face, the NEXT woman pointed to a completely different spot, and had much fear and respect in her. I was pleased.

So... Malikadna was way across town... and Mother Thrunefang was down below. Which confirmed my theory that the makeshift gate/cage at the base of the lighthouse was something I had no interest in.

When we had gotten everything we needed out of the women, they were made dead. There was some debate about that... but they had already stated they wanted to kill us and eat us.. and so just 'letting them go' wasn't really a valid choice. Our half-orc companion had no difficulty doing the task.

After the interrogation, we heard something down the hall... Apparently there had been more noise than usual up here, and they wanted to investigate. They died quickly too. In a society where you are both citizen and potential food, I'm hoping there aren't many left!

After that we had the lighthouse to ourselves for the rest of the day. Hopefully you can see the lighthouse by now... though Regan thinks it'll take some work to get it going. I intend to see to it that he makes it work... quickly!

We spent the rest of the day watching and waiting. Counting cannibals, resting, and making plans. And trying to ignore Dysentery horrifics. The best plan we had was somehow to have me poison the cannibals 'meal' with whatever Regan had in his pack. When Deklan suggested summoning an eagle to distract the mighty warriors... the plan was quickly changed to just have the eagle do the work. I like that a lot better.

The next morning... the cannibals were quite sick. Sadly they were not dead. So... it was decided the ranged warriors and Jay would stay in the lighthouse while the melee fighters charge the Seven bloodthirsty cannibals. That plan sucked! Somehow with my 'dazzling' display of sword work the day before, I got drafted into 'front line fighter' status.

Well... it was either that or let Kali run out on her own... As the best fighter amongst us, my odds of survival increase exponentially the longer I can help keep her alive.

Unless trying to keep her alive, gets me killed. It's a complex equation.


21st of Erastus, 4710 cont.


Well.. that was an interesting fight. We won... they're all dead. Yay us! Still have to deal with Shaman lady, and crazy mother locked in the basement... Actually, I'm going to vote we leave her in the basement till she becomes of interest. Sadly my votes are usually dismissed quickly.

Oh well... on the plus side, if they're the only two left, then odds are I won't be eaten... if they DO manage to kill us all... most of us 'smaller' ones will rot before the two of them finish the meatier members of our party!

Here's Hoping!

Corrigan Desmond
Castaway of the Jenivere

22nd of Erastus, 4710 cont.


Well.... Have a lot of time to write lately.

Picking up from the last notes, we wandered a bit south and started searching the village. The 'kitchen' for lack of a better word was loaded down with 'goat stuff' and jerky. I will not be eating anything here I can not identify. THAT goes without saying!

We've found some ancient tools that seem to be 'Chelaxian' leading us to suppose that either the lighthouse builders or the cannibals were originally Chelaxian. Or maybe both! Who knows... it was very long ago and they're all dead now, so I don't see why it matters.

Speaking of dead...

The next stop on our tour of Cannibal land was the fenced in pen for the skeletons... They REALLY wanted to come out and eat our faces... but fortunately the door was closed. Until the monkey showed up... The witch woman's blasted monkey ran up and unlocked the gate... thus letting the Skeleton's out.

Now.. I don't really understand the 'concept' behind skeletons.... are they intelligent? Completely stupid?? Either way their actions confused me. They waited ALLLLL that time to get the door open. Rattling the cages and reaching through the bars... etc. Then when the gate was OPENED... a bottleneck formed stopping the two slowest ones from getting out.

So those two climbed up and over the fence.

Yeah... something they could have done from the beginning... but didn't seem 'rational' at the time?? I don't know. It hurts my head to think about it. Or maybe that's the humidity talking.

Well.. my sword is next to useless against skeletons. That has become painfully obvious. So while Kali held the bottleneck, I decided to wreck holy vengeance on the monkey! At least until Malikadna showed up.

She decided the best way to initiate a greeting was to summon an earth elemental and smite Jas... Jay. There is something unnerving about watching the healer in the group go down hard and fast.... So I changed targets!

Deklan has a new trick he's getting rather fond of. Summon a dog or two. Instruct the dog to bite someone's face. Watch as target hits the ground. It's a good plan! Also the dog isn't around long enough to have to clean up after or feed... so perfect pet.

By the time I got to her she was on her back with Dog on her face, but she still tried casting something at me, but she obviously wasn't powerful enough to affect someone of my abilities. Then I stabbed her in the face.

She died, the elemental went away.. and shortly Kali took out the rest of the Skeletons. Finding nothing else alive in the village, and a broken and unconscious priest, we decided to simply rest at the lighthouse for the day.

Tooday, after a nightmare filled night... (Even Deklan is getting them now... though mine are worse...) we explored the rest of the village, found very little useful stuff, though apparently Deklan knows how to make a treasure map... out of your skin... YAY treasure?? Malikadna had a little stash of potions and thunderstones and such...

Then we debated whether to go down the hole to visit Mother Thrunefang. Despite our better judgement we all decided to go down there.

On a side note.. something weird has been going on. My mother used to tell me that our family was 'blessed' of some sort. Her uncle was what called a 'Stormborne'. Somewhere in our family line, the power of the storm gods found its way into our blood. It seems I have more in common with my uncle than I'd ever thought... When I fought the monkey, my sword charged up and fried the little freak.

It was pretty cool.

I'm not sure how to control it.. but I was always pretty good at magic, just not overly patient enough to deal with it... I'm curious what else I can do??

Down in the hole, it was extraordinarily dark. Vision was nearly non-existent, but that doesn't bother Kali much. Se was able to track down there in the dirt and bones. Apparently the Captain and his floozy went down here, but only the floozy came back out.

After some walking, Kali hurried back to the group from 'scouting' position. Apparently there were two massively ugly looking undead things up there. After much debate we basically walked in and killed them. Deklan's dog was much less useful this time.. and it took the 'sweet spot' I was hoping to stab... but still all was well.

In the massive piles of bone, we found the Captains clothing and a note. apparently the Captain was very sorry for what he did... he blamed the woman for everything. Called her a 'serpantine demon' (that and the memory of last nights dream shook me a bit.) Cursed his own weakness...

Everyone started to feel sorry for him after that. I proclaimed the one I stabbed in the face to have been the captain and did a little jig. Perhaps it wasn't his 'idea' to drug us and leave us to die... but I still blame him for his own inherent weakness.

Ironically neither of them were the captain.

Him we found later. Inside some massive cathedral thing dedicated to snakes. Again.. the dreams... Regardless... two zombified webbed handed things came charging us... Which for being dead, were remarkably fast. One of them was the captain. Sadly the others had him down before I could get there.. and I only got the satisfaction of post-mortem face stabbing.

More later,

Corrigan Desmond.
Smuggler's Shiv, Castaway of the Jenivere

23rd of Erastus, 4710

Well... Things seem to go from bad to worse on this island. Yesterday, we cleared out the rest of 'mother thurfang's' underground lair.

After fighting the captain ghoul thing... we found signs that Ieana was researching the ancient languages on a hidden altar room of the temple. Reegan and Deklan immediately started researching the strange markings. Apparently I wasn't much help... Despite the fact that I know a 'little' something about languages myself... Oh well. Not overly interested in the scribblings anyway...

Wandered around for some time, eventually finding more of those ghoulish looking things. Finally our battle was interrupted by the creepiest voice I'd ever heard. It offered to tell us whatever we wanted to know, and also offered us eternal life.


RIGHT.....


I'll admit I was a bit surprise that Reegan seemed to consider the offer. SERIOUSLY?!?! I thought he was the 'smart' one!!! I leaped forward and attacked her with Kali right next to me... though she quickly turned and helped Reegan who was basically just staring there considering becoming a ghoul while be attacked.

The rest of the battle is... a blur. I spent a good portion of it bleeding out and unconscious only to wake from Jay's healing... and get knocked back down. All I know is that we won! She was the last moving thing down there, so we returned to the lighthouse.

Now... I'll admit I didn't care about the ancient writing... but if it would have freed Reegan up to fix the lighthouse... I CERTAINLY would have dealt with it... However they decided to play around with the 10,000 year old graffiti instead of trying to get off the island. Makes me wonder if they just 'like' it here...

After some time, they WERE able to decipher what they found... The 'gist' of it was that Ieana wants to revive a dead snake god to raise the tides and destroy everything... The others consider this more important than the lighthouse. I'm not so sure... Just because there's random scratching from thousands of years ago doesn't mean it'll WORK... Also the god is dead! Perhaps these instructions were from when he still lived! WE don't know...

The sinking feeling in my stomach means that I'm sure we'll be leaving my lighthouse soon...


24th of Erastus, 4710

And we did leave... Deklan made a treasure map of her skin and it is pointing to an island in off to the west. So... after some debate, it was decided to head that way. We think Ieana is on the red mountain, but with a week head start, we're better off going where she 'may' be heading next. Cut her off and stab her face. In that order.

Also... Treasure!

During the trip back northwest... we saw a rather peculiar thing. Loud rumbling, and lightning shooting straight up from the red mountain. Common consensus is that Ieana did something. I believe she just hit the first step of her plan (since we hadn't seen anything like THAT before...) Others wonder if that may have been the FINAL step... Ever the optimist I stick with my theory.

It took some time, but we eventually found the island... however GETTING to it is going to be an issue. While everyone is utterly exhausted and the island is beating us to death... this IS the healthiest everyone's been in a while! NO MORE DYSENTERY IN THE GROUP!!!! A grand day, even if everyone is passed out in the jungle.

We followed the path until we got to a cliff with ropes already attached. Obviously we arent' the first ones here... The island is a good quarter mile away in rough water. I'm not the best swimmer on a good day, and with the fatigue and exhaustion going on... I doubt I'd make it.

Now we're trying to build a raft! Suddenly a raft is a GOOD idea!! Ohh well... whatever gets us to the treasure... It's getting late and the tide could prove problematic.

Corrigan Desmond.
Smuggler's Shiv, Castaway of the Jenivere
Currently Location, Smuggler's shiv

25th of Erastus, 4710

Well... this is awkward.

I'll admit I've been wrong about things in the past... granted not as often as people claim I am... but occassionally, it does happen. Yesterday was such a day...

First of all. If anyone finds this bottle, please make all haste to Smuggler's Shiv. While I originally advocated building a raft and sailing to safety... After yesterday's attempt, I concede defeat on that front. Yeah... ummm... We'll still be here!

We took our newly formed raft into the calmest waters we've seen around this island yet. Sadly we still spent more time in the WATER then we did on the craft! It was quite possibly the most pitiful thing I've ever witnessed. Fortunately it wasn't just me. We were all failures at the exercise with the exception of Jay, who simply strapped himself to the logs, and went where the waves took him.

If that wasn't bad enough. I completely misjudged our dear ugly witch woman's definition of 'treasure.' Sadly, that IS my fault... I was the primary arguer for seeking out the treasure on the map instead of searching the whole red mountain for a hint of our prey.

I truly did believe we would be cutting her off at the pass by getting to the location on the map. After the second thunderclap went off, the others wished to abandon the map and wander the mountain...

If the world gets destroyed shortly... My bad.

As it turns out the map was pointed to an abandoned and sunken ship loaded down with just gold... We fought some more of the sea ghouls and skeletons... but than had to hurry back to the main island... AGAIN with the raft... Carrying the massive amounts of gold...

Which in my mind, is only useful to people who rescue us....

Now feeling guilty we rushed through the jungle passes avoiding giant crabs and hurrying to the mountain... We made it nearly to the top before exhaustion hit.

The next morning we found what I have to assume were the 'Sentinel' stones... covered lightly in blood and markings... Ieana we saw nothing of.

I don't know what it is with this island... It's like a contest to see what the ugliest thing they can come with is. Each monster fights for the title everywhere we go... Starting with Kali and Reegan, and ending with this flying lizardish thing... So far in my mind Mother Thurfang the winner there!!

Still after seeing this man sized dragon looking thing I believe the answer to 'What sucked the life out of those monkey's on the cage,' has been sufficiently answered! It continued to swoop in and out striking with claws and 'monkey-sucking' fangs...

We tried to retreat and regroup, moving back amongst the Sentinel stones... It simply followed and landed in the middle of us. It occurred to me to leap on its back... and either pin it to the ground... or if it was strong enough to fly it to the mainland. However since it wasn't actually LOOKING at me at the time... I figured I should stab it in the back! With the sword Electrified...



I still believe that plan is sound.



After it realized it wasn't herding us, but had fallen into our cleverly laid ambush... it flew away back to its cave. Only to have our half-orc archer actually kill the thing from range. She seemed quite pleased with herself. As if she had never killed anything with a bow before.

Admittedly I don't think she has since we landed on the island. I haven't really paid attention... but 'Ever'?? That I don't know about. Regardless... THIS kill was hers.


Corrigan Desmond.
Smuggler's Shiv, Castaway of the Jenivere
Currently Location, Smuggler's shiv

Same Day:

Today was rough... I'm trying to get the details down before exhaustion or stress causes me to pass out... We'll see how it goes.

After killing the flying lizard monkey-sucking beast... We followed a series of bridges down toward the cove. Reegan has this affinity for drinking weird stuff that fins his hands... and so he chose to scout out the water.

After some time, he finally reported what he found. Sunken ship... With a monster of couse... and A huge set of double doors with ancient carvings on it.

Naturally everyone wanted to investigate... but there was no way we could get the doors open with the water pressure... So, in one of our most questionable decisions yet, we decided to complete the blood sacrifice a the sentinel stones!!

Sometimes... it can be frustrating to rally AGAINST doing horrible things only to find out it's EXACTLY what needed to be done... Case in point, The ritual did not summon/awaken an elder god of evil.. it merely lowered the tide and opened the doors...

The 'monster' that Reegan met was a surprisingly friendly water mephit. He was a familiar to a halfling captain or some such... and when the boat sank, he claimed it as his own... Sadly he couldn't fix it and take us off the island. Of the 'scary doors' he knew nothing. Nothing except that they were evil and carved with vampiric pictures...

Which they were. They were also open.

They led into a vast underground temple that was possibly the creepiest place i'd ever seen. Traps galore, and SOME of them I was able to disarm... One particularly nasty one involved axes spinning through the air in a locked room... Still not sure how we survived that!!

With remarkably little exploring, we seemed to head directly into room with Ieana!! I tried some of my newfound powers... but they still need some work. The skeletons surrounding her seemed to be destroyed fairly quickly and I was able to fullfill my lifelong dream of Stabbing her in the FACE!!

Downside... she had some power of her own. Before we knew what was happening, We were fighting Kali' too!!! I blacked out from blood loss and trauma, but not for too long... when I came to, Kali was trying to kill all our companions, and Ieana was using a magical gate to leave the battle. I Immediately followed!

Still so close to death, it was a questionable decision... Still... I hadn't quite stabbed her in the face enough!

When I finally materialized in the other room. The snake woman was gone. Instead I found Aerys!! I quickly questioned the other half-elf about Ieana... Something wasn't right. We had left all the good looking ladies back on the beach. What was the odds that I'd 'HAPPEN to run into the only other Half-elf HERE... She mumbled something... I don't really know. I had a hunch and stabbed her in the face.

I was right. It was an illusion.

As the battle raged in this tiny.. tiny room, more of my companions filtered in and joined the fight. The last was Kali', who still seemed enchanted to kill us all... and I was pretty sure it was going to end poorly for me.

I'm not sure what happened next... but the vile snake demon thing collapsed at my feet and stopped moving. I'm currently leaning against the wall... trying to stay awake. Fortunately Kali' seems to back to her senses.

25th of Erastus, 4710... Still.

Well... I think I made an enemy now... Well, more of one anyway.

After Reegan threw his bomb killing Ieana and scorching Kali in the process... we finally had time to examine the room we'd ended up. Once again it was covered in the strange writing that got Deklan all a twitter. The mage immediatetly set about rubbing a copy of everything he could.

After he was done there, we worked our way back to the entrance. Half of us were ready to go, but the other half wanted to explore some more... Given the chance for more treasure, I was willing to look.

That's when things got dicey... Deklan insisted on using every scrap of paper he could to copy the goofy wall scratchings. As he voted to stay in one room with a lot of it... the rest of us wanted to keep exploring.

Naturally I was in the lead, since I've had the best luck so far in finding traps... Second, Reegan was behind me trying to help where he could. Thirdly Kali was in the middle of the pack.

All well and good till we hit an ambush. A dozen skeletons leapt out at me in a narrow stairway. Knowing the futility of my rapier against them, I immediately led the retreat to the bigger room behind us... and hopes that Kali could smite them as readily as usual. Reegan however... was a bit too slow.

I had expected him right behind me... he expected me to stand there and guard him from the oncoming horde... Things... got ugly. He was able to dispatch them quickly enough, but wounded himself quite nicely in the process...

I have NO doubt he blames me for the incident.

After that unfortunate encounter.. it was decided to go back up top and rest for the evening. We were a little concerned about getting trapped down there.

Deklan was entirely too giddy for my tastes that night. Apparently he was able to understand more and more of the wall carvings...

According to HIM... The temple was once a temple to the god of Vampires... whose worshipers came and took it from the snake god... Apparently Ieana was trying to reclaim it herself... or some such. Personally if BOTH of them get disappointed, it should all be good!

There was one interesting bit... apparently there are clues leading us to an ancient lost city in the Mwangi Expanse!! Loaded with Treasure and such... THAT's more like IT!! Similiar enough to the reason I got on the thrice-cursed ship in the first place!!

The next morning, we returned to explore the rest of the temple... and found very little else worth dealing with... More random god-talk and carvings of vampire sacrifices... LOVELY...

I used the mist statue to wander the rest of the temple through the tunnels and air vents... but nothing truly worth while showed up.

So... it was decided to blow up the altar. Kali, Reegan and Jay saw to THAT... while Deklan and myself ran for the safety of the world outside.

FINALLY it was decided that we would get the lighthouse working again... AFTER retrieving the rest of the Castaways and bringing them back to Cannibal Village. The trip was mostly uneventful other than a Kali continuing to aquire new pets. The monkey... hates me (as does everything in the natural world...) but he is tolerable.

This NEW thing... Is LESS so. The BIGGEST SNAKE I'VE EVER SEEN!!!

I hate the way it looks at me...

Also it seems to have NO trouble attacking humans, as the poor unfortunate cannibals found out when they tried to ambush us... They died quickly, save for one whom we quetioned...

By WE, I mean everyone else in the group. I was informed that they did NOT eat our companions... and they WERE from the village. Other than that, I remember little... He was still getting crushed by the snake... Death was a mercy THAT time...


Corrigan Desmond
Castaway on Smuggler's Shiv

6th of Arodus, 4710

To whom it may concern...

please disregard earlier bottles.

Corrigan Desmond.
Formerly of Smuggler's Shiv, Survivor of the Jenivere

Presently a guest aboard a South Arcadian whaling vessel.



P.S.

We lost Sasha on the island... She went in search of a carnivorous dinobird pet... Never seen again.