Progress report

Mistress Jevvica,

We have managed a reasonably successful venture into the Quaan.

It took us a few days to get going, and my reminder that whoever had the Sword of Lies might already be doing evil things fell on deaf ears.

The gnome in particular was keen to obtain some device to permit him to perform his stealth attacks on undead. We tried to tell him that there were unlikely to be undead in the Quaan but he told us such a chilling tale of the undead, giant, earth elemental dragon that killed his great-uncle Igconceivable with its breath of life-draining that we were chilled to the bone and more than happy to delay our departure a couple of days. Damien tried to tell us that such a creature could not possible exist, but it was hard to shake the feeling left by the gnome’s story.

There was then some debate as to whether we should proceed to the Quaan or continue with the Banewarrens themselves. Fortunately a vote favoured venturing to the Quaan.

Entering the Quaan for the first time is a test of mettle. The rift between the planes is located on the brink of a precipice, so if for some reason you weren’t transported then you would find yourself plummeting to your death.

It is a small plane and we were able to scout almost the entire plane in less than a day. Much of the surface is covered with slime that we couldn’t enter—Damien said that we would be engulfed and consumed were we to venture into it.

Much of the rest of the plane is covered in stagnant, swampy water ranging in depth from 3 to 6 feet. As we worked our way through the swamps the gnome Ignatz rode upon Deathspank&squo;s shoulders to keep above the water level.

In scouting the plane we found only three interesting features: a tower; a statue; and a manor house. We believe the manor house is our ultimate destination but were unable to approach as it appeared to be surrounded by slime and we had no means of traversing it.

The statue was interesting: the dagger Yaeshla told us that it is the place where the Pactlords initiate new members and seal their oath, and that anyone with a bone ring can use the statue to locate any other person with a bone ring. However it did nothing to further our quest. I wonder whether we should have tried to destroy it—if it is so fundamental to the Pactlords perhaps destroying it would weaken them?

After all our scouting we were left with only the tower to explore. It stood some 250 feet and was constructed of a smooth black stone which gave no purchase for climbing. It had a featureless brass door which Damien unlocked with a spell and we entered.

Inside the tower there was a symbol opposite the door, and the walls were at least climbable. Which was fortunate as there was nothing else within the tower except for a brass trapdoor set in the ceiling.

The symbol was not magical in itself, I was told, but represents some mystical substance which can be used in a number of ways, such as empowering spells, and enhancing attributes.

Deathspank climbed partway up the wall with Damien on his back so that Damien could cast another spell to unlock the trapdoor, using a scroll this time.

Then we spliced our ropes to get a single rope which would be just long enough to make to to the ceiling. Deathspank scaled the wall easily and was able to open the door and climb through. He fastened the rope around the trapdoor and we made our way up one by one.

I was last up the rope and was still climbing when a large shape appeared above the opening in the ceiling. Apparently a beholder had descended from a similar trapdoor in the ceiling of the room above and was attacking the rest of the party.

I am unsure exactly what transpired while I scrambled to climb the remaining distance as quickly as possible. When I emerged in the room above I saw that Ignatz had been petrified.

Most of the others had huddled on one side to reduce the scope for the beholder to attack, but I had come up on the other side of the beholder where I would be an easy target so I cast my displacement spell for protection. Soon after both Searc (as I have learnt the dwarf’s name is spelt) and Damien bombarded the beholder with spells and it collapsed dead.

There was little of interest on that level of the tower—a dead, blue-skinned humanoid; an orb of some kind on a pedestal (which we conscientiously avoided); a room with a chest; and a room that appeared to be a harpy roost (unoccupied).

With Ignatz out of it, Sir Lucius broke the lock on the chest which then proceeded to belch forth a large cloud of poisonous gas. It took its toll, but nobody was seriously injured. I suspect the substance we found in the chest to be some of that mystical substance I mentioned earlier, but we have not yet tested it or discussed what would be done with it if my suspicions are correct.

There appeared to be another floor above the one we explored, though once again the trapdoor was magically sealed and we had run out of spells to unseal it so we decided to return to Ptolus and get the gnome restored to health.

Damien cast the spell to return us to this plane, and as expected we finished up a considerable distance from Ptolus. Fortunately it was inland, as I’m not sure what we would have done had we entered at sea with “the rock formerly known as Ignatz”—I doubt we would have had the means to transport him back to land.

Eternally yours,
Avach