#Lore24 – Entry #329 – Fantasy Month IV #24 – The Kerryn Village, and The Fifth Ritual

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos

For the sake of our saviors and their families, I will not reveal any further details about their number nor location, suffice to say that they have a village in which they live, though I fear some enterprising individual with ill intent may be able to discern their location through what I’ve stated in my previous entry.  My party has likewise made a vow to keep the location of the village a secret, for we owe our kerryn saviors our lives, and do not wish to bring the eyes of the Emperor upon them, though I fear that may only be a matter of time, given their will to expand into the region.  Yet, we are many days travel from Vindinium, and there is yet much land in between that must be tamed first, so hope remains that these kerryn will remain free of the fate their cousins face within the Empire.

Though our saviors were worried about our coming, understandably so, they were quite friendly with us, and allowed us a few days to rest and recover amongst them, the orcs sufficiently dissuaded from further pursuit after they ventured so far our of their own territory whilst chasing us.  I possess more knowledge of them, of course, but will not reveal it here; this is recorded in my most private notes and shall not be revealed for some time yet, likely until after my death when all of my documents shall be given over to the Great Library.  Regardless, I will say that they had already known of the soldiers reclaiming the fort, having scouted that far to the east after hearing rumors of it from the handful of people they trust to trade with beyond the Wildlands.  They are resolute to remain where they are, though will be taking steps to further their security. 

The kerryn knew of the standing stones we sought, and with some guidance before we parted ways quite peacefully, we continued our journey, and within a day had located the site, nestled in a much nicer hilly region and not the taller mountains further on.  Upon completion of the ritual, gaining our fifth mark, making one on the forehead, one on either bicep, and one on either thigh, we had but one more left to attain.  Taking some time to get our bearings, I again worked to make an accurate plotting of a course that would lead us to the final standing stones.  By my reckoning, it could only be in the center of the Sherstone Morass, likely hinting at the nature of the name of the swampy region.  By my best estimate, the final standing stones were at the convergence of lines drawn from the previous sites, placing it firmly within this region, known to be inhabited primarily by carnivorous lizardmen and flora and fauna that were less than agreeable to most.

We considered returning to Vindinium to resupply, but finally decided against it, deciding instead to push forward to the Sherstone Morass through the grassy lowlands to the southeast of our position at the fifth ritual site, then continue on to Vindinium once we had completed the ritual, if needed, or to head directly to the vault.  It meant crossing gnoll territory, but seeing as we’d already angered the kobolds and orcs during our travels, and would be stepping into the domain of the lizardmen for our next stop, it would seem rather remiss of us to exclude the gnolls now, wouldn’t it?  Such is the life of an adventurer, I suppose.

And so, we set out the following morning, and I for one felt great anticipation as we neared the completion of this series of rituals, though I would be careful to temper myself and remain firmly grounded in my expectations, lest I get distracted more than I already am by these accursed devices secured to me by Lady Armenia.  I can only imagine how much worse my situation would be had the chastity devices not been enchanted to clean themselves and can only hope they’ll remain as vigilant once we enter the swamps.