By Beth Griese

Date:   March 3, 1996

Quote of the Day:
"My doctor said mielikki." -- Stu

To Garen Thundersson, cleric of Mielikki. From your faithful servant, Jade.

We had defeated the ghasts in the lower level of this abandoned castle and began rummaging through the piles of debris in this room. We found adventurers' equipment, including the bodies of the people who had owned it. But we continued on, figuring it meant that we had made it farther than many before us. It was either a good sign or a signal that we were in far deeper than we could handle. Most likely the latter.

The basement led, unsurprisingly, to a dungeon. Cells lined the walls, and skeletons came to life as we entered. But Borreau called upon Tempus, and destroyed the undead where they stood. Borreau practically glowed, whether directly from the favor of his god or just his pride in it, I can't say, but it was heart-warming to see, either way. One of the cells led to a torture room that had more moving skeletons in it, which Verence took care of this time, and a creature with flesh hanging from its bones. I suppose it was a zombie, based on stories, and Telaran and I destroyed it with grim satisfaction.

And so we continued, gaining some confidence as we went. Nory found a trap in a door we approached. A block from the ceiling was poised to fall on the person opening it, until our thiefly gnome disarmed it quite handily. I could swear my adventuring friends are growing in leaps and bounds right in front of my eyes. I wish I had confidence that I was doing the same.

The next room we entered immediately garnered my attention, not for the incongruity of finding a library room in the basement of a castle, but for the blue marble floor it contained. Blue marble - so close to the red marble I saw in my vision of the servant of Mielikki! I even found a holy book of Mielikki amongst the shelves, which I kept. I hope to return it to its owner, but even if he's not found, it should be brought out of this dark, underground place and taken to someone who could care properly for it.

The next room also had a marble floor, this time of black. A giant bed seemed to cover half the room. As we poked around, I bent to look under the bed, when a hideous arm of mottled black swung out to knock me halfway across the room. The spot it struck was cold, as if ice were now pressed to my shoulder. The creature was wispy darkness, with points like gemstars for eyes. I don't know what it was, but it also struck Borreau before we finally beat it away, Telaran swinging the killing stroke. Poor Borreau fell pale as stone and dropped to the ground with a shudder. He seemed so weak from the hit, but we both gathered up what healing we could and continued on. I felt mostly recovered from that thing, but I was worried about my cleric friend.

By this time, I was holding my breath as we opened each new door, but no red marble greeted me. The next room, though, was a wonder to behold. Its floor was white marble, and in its center stood a wonderfully carved statue of Mielikki. The power of the Lady of the Forest herself must protect it, for it stood clean and unmarred by time or vandalism. At the statue's feet stood a chalice, with carvings of warm suns and peaceful woods. Some of the others looked worried, but I couldn't stop myself. I filled the chalice with water and drank from it, drinking to the health and power of the goddess.

The strangest thing happened as I brought the cup down from my lips. It was as if the room I was in faded into clouds, like fog, and my troubled mind eased. It was as if words that had been on the tip of my tongue finally loosened, and problems on the edges of my mind solved themselves. The battles, the traps, the events that had been right in front of me all that time, without my understanding! What a marvelous feeling. Somehow, too, I understood that I had been gifted as a follower of Mielikki, but if the others in my party were to get the same peace and gifts, they would need to drink not just from the cup, but also drink water that had been thrice blessed.

Had I been in a more humorous mood when the glow of this gift faded away, I probably would have laughed out loud at the looks on the rest of the group's faces when I looked at them clearly again. I explained that they didn't have to worry for me, and told them what awaited them. Everyone drank their share, and this being holy ground, we decided it was a good place to rest and regain our bodies' strength as well as our minds'. I don't know about the others, but I rested more peacefully than I have since I last slept under the stars far from this place. One of the other watches reported that, again, a mist seemed to settle around me - or from me - during the night. I'm still perplexed by this, but I pray that if this mist can use this holy place, perhaps it won't be my immediate doom.

In the morning, we found beyond the chapel more stairs down. At the bottom, to my disappointment, was worked stone again, no marble. This was the tunnel away from the castle, as evidenced by the remains of the siege tower that we had seen from the ground. We followed it to a cave tunnel, which only had a 3' tall exit.

The short tunnel led to a room. Nory crawled down, and I insisted on following, with rope handy in case our gnome ran into trouble. Thank the gods, Nory had the good sense to try to use the flat of his blade to see into the room before emerging from the tunnel. That may have saved his life, because a gray blob of some glistening ooze dropped on the light from the blade, knocking it from Nory's hand. It came down the tunnel after us, and any miner would have been proud of the speed Nory and I used for our retreat. With its surprise defeated, Telaran and I were able to make fairly short work of the glop.

Nory returned to the room again to retrieve his sword and to grab an interesting relic; a staff with a dragon carved on top of it and four elvish glyphs etched into the haft. Oh, the sparkle in B'rinth's eyes!

So now we're left with a decision; where to head next? We seem to have left the worked floors behind, so perhaps Mielikki's warrior is still somewhere in the castle that we haven't explored yet. I hope we're able to make the right choice and find him with all speed. I have a terrible feeling that our luck has been stretched to the breaking point.

Your faithful servant,

--Jade

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