I do not claim to understand fully the workings of the Great Church and the Masters of All-Consumption. Their alliance with these foul-smelling brutes is one that surprises me. I had assumed we were the favoured ones of the Dark Lord? Who are these scaly beastmen to tell us what to do, then?

No matter, soon we’ll leave this accursed town and I won’t have to be cooped up in this flour mill with the vile creature any longer. Avoiding the townsfolk is proving to be difficult, even with Vacra maintaining a front with her Wand. I think we may have to have to kill the miller soon, he grows suspicious. Master Dunrat is a fool if he thinks we can remain amongst these despicable cattle for long and be undiscovered.




Annihilation take you, Hommlet! I’ve not enjoyed my brief stay here. The food from the Inn brought by Chatrilon was very good, however. Venison cured very nicely. What is the seasoning, I wonder? Perhaps when we’ve slain all the people of this place, I can discover the secrets of the preparation. Great will be that day. Praise to the Elder Elemental Eye!




Just as the Doomdreamers proclaimed, the Dark Obelisk is here, under a pool in a cave. We discovered that below the pool was a shaft with a false bottom, sealed for many years. Once penetrated, the pool drained down into a wondrous cave pulsating with the power our revered Master of Masters. O Great Day! If only we can now discover the Dark Altar rumoured to be here as well, I might yet be able to have the powerful magic items I deserve, though we may need to return to Hommlet to retrieve sacrifices for our Lord to get them.

We have begun excavating the relics and implements of our Lord. We have found a Torch of Revealing with its fuel intact, some other trinkets we have yet to determine the power or purpose of, and a scroll detailing the process of accessing the Black Cyst. Never did I think that I would be involved in such a glorious adventure in your name!



Apparently, the water from the stream above was diverted into the shaft, to fill up the pool and hide the cave from the unworthy. Truly the Dark God inspired such a wondrous plan, although it surely was carried out only after his unjust imprisonment. Yours shall be the name we proclaim, Dark Lord, once we have breathed new life into your most deserved worship. Once you are free all shall be set right, and those who deserve it most shall meet their cruel, cruel fate. Blessed Destruction.




I marvel at the skill of our enlightened predecessors who constructed the Obelisk to honour and commune with the Dark Lord. Those must have been heady, wonderful days in which to live. Under the leadership of Master Thaque, we have recovered some of the relics of our lost heritage, but still cannot find the altar on which to perform the ritual. Praise the Elder Elemental Eye!




Alas! Foul Beast! What fate has befallen us? It must be a test sent to us from beyond – we must now go without the leadership of Master Thaque, may his soul rest with the Dark Lord in the cold embrace of dissolution now and forever more. Oh wicked, cruel, fate – I seek not your judgement in the claws of a young Dragon!

But Gungash is also dead, and that is good. I hated him - he stole my lunch two days ago, and it was an excellent boiled egg and some of Gren's delicious Spicebread. Take his soul, Dark Lord and crush it beneath your contemptuous heel.




It appears that we may be trapped here for a time. Festrath cannot convince the Gnolls to attack the beast together - not after what happened two days ago. I think the Dragon laughs at us. A grand joke, ye beast, but one that you'll pay for with your very soul! Now Festrath hides at the bottom of the Obelisk with that creature that came through the gate. We will continue our excavation work here, but eventually we shall run out of food. Perhaps we shall have to live as the lowly ghouls do here in their tunnels, or perhaps Gnoll flesh can be flavoured in some way so its vaguely palatable.



I cannot understand your whims sometimes, Dark Lord. I am certain now that Festrath has gone completely mad. He will not leave the Obelisk chamber, and the Gnolls have started to look to me for orders instead. Send me a sign of your wishes, Dark Lord, and I will pour gnoll blood on your Obelisk with my bare hands in thanks!




The dragon is dead! Yet now we face an unknown foe: the wyrm was slain by a group of adventurers. Chatrilon accompanied them from the village. He managed to slay one of them before they turned their cowardly tails, but he reports that they are very powerful. We must be cautious, or they may ruin everything. We cannot leave before the wagon arrives, and our work here is not quite complete.

If only we had found the altar as well as the tools! Ysslansh believes that your altar may not be here after all, but the Doomdreamers said it was, and they have been right in everything else they predicted. If only the cussed lizard hadn’t given the riddle to Festrath; now we shall have to go down below again to pry it from him. But that must wait, as now we must deal with the possibility that the adventurers will return…