The Journal of Harren Smoulder Entry #7

My feet are aching and I can't stop shivering. We spent nearly the entire day navigating steep cliffs. We've only just managed to move beneath the cloudy fog. As we were passing through it I was so sure we'd be ambushed by some monstrous bird or dragon but no, we were fine. The wind lashed at our skin the entire time though. A cloak is just another thing I wish I had bought now.

Wandering further down we came across a set of rocky spires poking up above the clouds. There was evidence that at one point a network of bridges connected them all and a way further down on the other side but they'd all been torn apart. The gaps were just wide enough to be risky hopping across. If you rolled your ankle on accident you might just fall off. I have to admit I was nervous that something so simple and practiced could lead to my end. On one of the islands there was a small chest, but it was out of the way and risky.

As we skipped along I could hear something change in the swooshing winds. Two incredible beasts came flying up from the sea of clouds, one on either side of me. They had antlers like a stag, wings like falcons, and made awful screeches. They swooped past, trying to gore me on their antlers and knock me down into the unknown. Their constant attacks made using my new bow near impossible, but when I had one opportunity to use it it was more of a hindrance than anything. Eric had positioned himself to take a swing as one of the flying devils passed him on its way to me. When it flew down its beating wings blew my shot down and straight into Eric's back. He not only was unable to make his attack but he snapped the magical arrow in half. He wasn't very satisfied with my explanation after the battle. I hope this hasn't soured what he thinks of me.

Despite such a set back the fighting wasn't so difficult. In fact, I was the only one of us who was attacked. It was our own missteps that put us in the most danger. Few had been working on a new spell, one more powerful than any I've seen from her. Lighting burst from her core in a circle creating a deafening thunderous crack. It fried one of our enemies sending it spiraling out of sight, but it also shocked Zanvar and threw him back to the edge of the platform. His armor rattled while he tried to hold himself together through the pain. While he managed to stay put together he did fall over the edge. His gauntlet locked around foothold a short way down. He was able to climb back up on his own but he might have died thanks to Few. She's extremely remorseful, maybe more than what would be good for her. Zanvar doesn't seem all that bothered by it.

The other beast was enraged by the loss of its partner. It landed and relentlessly clawed bit and swung its head at me. Eric and I were able to hack and slash at it enough to fatally wound it. It flopped about smashing its antlers to pieces as it slumped over and off the side. Eric must have been thinking of me even after my mistake because he quickly threw his grappling hook down and caught it. We hoisted it up together, and although those glorious antlers were broken I managed to gut some real food for us. I have no idea why they came after me specifically, but I felt like I was drowning for most of the fight. I relished pulling its insides out. It's disrespectful to the animal but this thing deserved none of my sympathy.

The chest was too tempting to pass up. It was just sitting by itself for whatever reason, how could I not go for it? Well it was totally worthless, not a thing inside. On the other side we took a little time to rest. Few was as excited to cook our kill as I was to eat it. We burned the chest for fuel, laughing a little at our collective revenge on an inanimate object. There wasn't much to season it with but there was plenty of that juicy gamey flavor I love packed into the meat. It wasn't quite like deer but it was very similar.

Immediately as we walked into the clouds we lost eachother for a moment. Torches would be blown out and we didn't have any lanterns. Few's wand glowed dimly and Zanvar's eye was able to cut through. We grouped back up and with a little effort we descended low enough to see clearly again. The bottom of this mountain lead to a wall of caves. One of them must be the way further down to the second layer.

More and more climbing and sliding. Really it was all very boring until we landed on a small plateau. I had fallen behind a bit after slipping on a crumbling bit of the mountain. From my vantage point I could see a woman with short blonde hair looking further down until the others stepped too close. Eric tried to speak to speak to her with no results. She spun a glaive around her body pulling electricity out of the air. A wall of lightning circled her and my three companions when she struck the ground. She didn't know there was a fourth of us. I took plenty of time to line up my shot. Even for me it was a long shot. My patience paid off when the winds stilled for a second. She fell to the ground just after I shot. It took me a moment to rejoin them all but I was beaming. They said it was Eric who had made her take a knee using one of his spells, but they're just jealous that I could show off.

The woman was barely breathing. A purple rash was creeping up her arm. Her hand was covered in boils and scabs. Eric was able to call on enough good graces to rid her of it and heal any wounds we had dealt to her. She said she wasn't in her right mind earlier due to the rash. She didn't seem all that grateful to me though. Her name is Diedre and that's just about all she volunteered to tell us. We had to coax the way further down out of her. She pointed out a specific near circular opening. When she thought we were done talking she jumped off down to it herself. I can't believe that she was able to descend so quickly. She must be some strange sort of mage.

We lay down for the night right where we met her. I can see Few tossing in her sleeping bag right now. She must be feeling a bit like I felt when I shot Eric, but multiplied many times. She's so so young to be doing this. She's capable physically, I don't think mentally though. It isn't too late for her to turn around and leave. I shouldn't press it though, let her decide on her own without someone she's not even slightly beholden to try to influence her. This is the first time writing this has left me in a worse mood than when I began.

The picture of the Peryton comes from the Forgoten Realms wiki article for the monster. http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Peryton

The picture of Diedre is from the DM himself. http://garloo2.tumblr.com/ He started trying his hand at drawing and he's not too bad right?