The Journals of Malfus, and The Wayward Adventurers

Here upon these pages, I Malfus Strom, Acolyte of the Order of Daos, make a transcript of my journals. Following the Creed of my Order, i have recorded the events of the party that set forth from Nuln without bias. It is my hope that one day, if these events do shape the world to come, the truth on these pages will be an accurate reflection of history, and not a patchwork of rumour. With this afore note out the way, here is my work, clean of the dilution of time and distance.

Nachgeheim 31st, 2267
Day 1

My first day with the group of adventurers. Should i call them this? I do not know, but at the day end, i fear i have made a mistake in choosing this group of... People. What originally drew me to them seems to have been a mere coincidence of fancy, rather than design by nature. The 'Elven Prince' Janus Arkarva, his appearances lead me to believe him a High Elf, but my training leads me to believe otherwise. There are things about him do not ring true. His use of daggers is strange to say the least, i had always believed swords to be more of the domain of royalty, and daggers more of the domain of their dark brethren. He also wields pistols, a contraptions of empire design. Do i press him on this subject? Surely the pride of the Elves must prohibit him from wielding such things? No. I shall say nothing, for to question may cause rise in suspicions from the others, and it is not my place to bring attention to these discrepancies. To match this strange Elf is another, called Varlom. A Bard by profession, he seems to be more of an agreeable disposition than the Prince, but they seem to have little to say to each other. I have not heard of this kind of behaviour before, my studies would suggest this man be his bodyguard? Or at least servant of some description, but the interaction they have seems minimal. He seems friendly enough, and so maybe this confirms my suspicions of the other? Then there is the Dwarf by the name of Blackthorn Fosterbeard. A strange name. I do not believe i have heard of this clan before. I may look into their lineage when events are over with. For now, he does appear an agreeable man. A blacksmith by trade, and by the looks of him. I wonder if he will prove to be as reliable as he looks should the time come, they need a man of his physical stature to stand up to the challenge? Finally there is a strange human called simply 'Boris'. I cannot fathom his reasons for joining up with the others, but my guess is he is searching to expand his academic studies into areas not normally accessible to his more frail of heart associates.

Appearances aside, they appeared to be a capable band. After i introduced myself to the group, they explained to me they had been tasked by an eccentric recluse called Wilhelm, to find a crystal with a handspan diameter. He believed it to be in some old dwarven land up in the mountains called 'The Vault'. He instructed them to meet up with his sister Freya, a current excommunicate of the sisterhood of Shalia. She has strange views, even i myself am hardpressed to keep indifferent to. Apparently she views the effects of 'Chaos' to be an ailment rather than a souls manisfestation. This also leads her to believe that it can be cured. That aside, they are to meet up with her and 2 other adventurers at a place called 'The Colony'.

After a short mornings preparations in the city of Nuln, we set off riding North towards our destination. Given the two roads North, one via lakeside. The other through forested area. The party decided upon the forst, assuming a forest would have a more direct route and more likelihood of a proper road. The Pine trees we walked through had shed a heavy carpet of needles, for some reason putting the party on edge. Apparently they were expecting bandits within a days ride of Nuln, and the pine needles would silence any approach. This was a good point, had not the area been so heavily patrolled and the liklihood of bandits been highly unlikely.

Nevertheless, we made good progress during the day. The road led us through into farmed lands. In which our journey passed by uneventfully. This evening we have stopped at a clearing which has obviously been used many times before. The flat ground, the used fire pit. It is a safe assumption we will be safe here. We are setting up camp now, and i cant help but wonder what the days to come with these men will bring.