12th May 1286
Mal’Bork Castle
We managed to convince most of the undead that had kept some form of sentience not to kill us, but we were still attacked by about 5 zombies, 2 wraiths, 2 spectres, a giant spider, and some lizard men. There may even have been more than that but my head is spinning too much to remember. We escaped by the skin of our teeth, amulet safely tucked into our Bag of Holding. Along with a couple of other things. I do believe this emerald green cloak brings out my eyes.
Once we entered Mal’Bork, the weight of the dark deeds carried out within its walls enveloped us. We managed to piece together bits and pieces of the events that befell them from various journals, old reports, and a jovial conversation with the zombie possessed ghost groundskeeper Nikolaj, worshipper of Hades. The tale thus far:
“The Knight of Polania returned. In his injured possession, he had an artifact. An amulet of unknown origin and make. The knights behaviour had become erratic, and had drawn the ire of the nurse who cared for him. As such, the amulet was given into the care of the castle priest, Father Voi’Chek. Father Voi’Chek described the Amulet as strange, and cold to the touch, with symbols unknown to him. His journal details his descent into madness, as the lettering gnaws at his mind, taking root, poisoning his thoughts. He begin to show an abandonment of his faith, a callout of the god Apollo. The writings lose articulation in rambles “Apollo is false one. I must find true God. This is not where I am supposed to be. Father calls to me. I must answer call.” This led to what appears to be conversion of the castle folk to the darkness “I have converted them to the faith. But I am worried some suspect me. I have to keep my eyes open. Watch them in the dark. See what they do.” and culminated in a dark deed “The cook may be on to me. I will have to accelerate. If he informs the lady I may have to act. I’d rather turn her than kill her. But I will if I must.” The first to notice the change in Father Voi’Chek was the cook, Milosh. We are what we eat, and Father Voi’Chek wasn’t. Except for rarer and rarer meat. Milosh also spied Father Voi’Chek skulking the grounds in the night, and could swear the father’s eyes reflected something strange. Nikolaj the groundskeeper confirmed the priest would walk the grounds at night, while multiple guard records indicated reports of suspicious activity from the priest. The commander of Mal’Bork castle recorded that the increasingly odd behaviour from Father Voi’Chek coincided with the behaviour of the Knight of Polania calming. Word reached the Lady of Mal’Bork, who determined that she would speak to the Lord the very next day regarding this behaviour, just as the Commander determined he would confront the priest. No journal entries in the castle go past that day. Instead, Mal’Bork castle today is rife with undead, its holy places desecrated and crying with black liquid, with the bodies of some of its inhabitants found posed in their beds. A Heptagram can be found in its upper levels, signifying that an unholy ritual took place. What truly happend that fateful day, we may never know, but that it came from madness and evil cannot be mistaken.”
They mystery of Mal’bork Castle has me completely on edge. I wonder if the shaman knows more than she is letting on. We have given her the amulet to destroy, but I wonder if that was the right call. Something with the power to corrupt a priest could devastate this land. I can only hope we have done what is right.
I think we should stick around here for a bit. Keep an eye on the shaman. Doesn’t look like we’ll run out of things to do anytime soon, as Gockerol has just informed us that Vasrock the Bloody (I wonder if he is any relation to Vasrock the Vast) is holding a birthday ball for his daughter, the Princess Evlarz. Gockerol has heard that the best birthday present wins? Apparently this is all over-compensation due to Vasrock the Bloody feeling rather overprotective of his daughter after something happened to his son Elmo. Who isn’t dead (I know, that’s the first thing I thought too), he’s just injured, and his injuries aren’t healing for some reason.
In other news, Aisley sold her cool snake staff! In exchange for this thing that doesn’t move. Ugh. I also managed to pick up a dozen bottles of potent 250-year-old wine from Mal’Bork Castle, which meant that Gockerol, Arthur and I had a merry old time drinking ourselves under the bar.
– Inlet
Mal’bork Castle
This is a way to space between lines
This is a way to space between lines