I have to say, I was very nervous about meeting with Boss Varnil. I needed him to be cooperative, submissive. Destibier specifically told me that I'd have to destroy anyone who didn't agree to serve under me. So what if the Boss refused? I couldn't kill him! I'm trying to lead the kobolds into a golden age, a period of good relations with the softskins. I'm not trying to be some sort of bloodthirsty tyrant! I was confident in my ability to be persuasive, but T'Krosh is much better with these formal things. I'm glad I brought him along.

So, I called a meeting with Boss Varnil, laid out my reasons for taking control over the tribe (making sure to stress the charge from Destibier), and asked if he would submit. Nothing too fancy, and no long speeches. Well, T'Krosh may be a better negotiator than I, but I'm a quick learner! Varnil presented me with his headdress. I am now the official Boss of the Sha'Tek! ... How many lives does that place under my responsibility now? More than a thousand if I include Tangleton's halflings, I should think. No, I shouldn't dwell on that. Yes, I'm responsible for them, but I can also guide them to a better future. Risks and rewards, and all that. On that note, I made my first act as Boss to order many of the kobolds moved to Tangleton - it's simply safer, what with Destibier there and all.

What's next, then? I need to get Wybak to be follow me too, but I don't think he'll be so willing. And even if I wanted to fight him like Destibier commands, I don't think I would win. Ugh, I can just imagine this turning into some kind of war between the Sha'Tek and my two towns. What a disaster that would be! Kobolds fighting against kobolds! Absolutely not! If any sort of fight does break out, I need to keep it one on one - me and Wybak. But hopefully, he'll see reason and a fight won't be necessary.

There's much to talk about, and it feels like forever since I have written in this journal! First, let me cover what happened after we killed the Gaedracis (again).

While we were gathering the spoils of the battle yesterday, Mask had an idea to get us teleported to the Floating Tower so we could use one of Isildul's artifacts. I don't think any of us were eager to enter another lich's presence so soon, but we put our doubts behind us and went ahead with her plan. And am I glad we did! Isildul has this amazing treasure chest of... transmuting, I'll call it. You place something inside, and out comes whatever you want of equal value. We all used the chest liberally. I got myself a new shirt - a CHAIN shirt. That's right, you read that correctly; Nyza wears armor now! It's very light though, so it won't interfere with my magic at all. And it certainly stops blows better than those bracers I was using.

After we all finished with the chest, we went our separate ways. I teleported with T'Krosh to see the Boss at the Sha'Tek. It had been too long since I'd checked in with him. But this, uh, was not a good time for that. When we appeared outside the caves, we found none other than Cedarcleaver waiting. New armor or not, I don't think I've ever felt so naked as I did when teleporting right next to a hostile dragon. Luckily, he wasn't that hostile, and he was willing to indulge me in a brief conversation. Basically, enough to tell me that he was sending his clan to attack Tangleton. Can you really believe this dragon! Here I am, wanting to start a new town and perfectly willing to let everyone live in peace, and Cedarcleaver thinks he'll just snuff us out!

Anyway, the only reason this did not turn into an outright disaster was that I held some help from a... distant relative. You might remember me writing awhile ago, during a meeting with the summoned Azer, that I am descended from an enormous red dragon by the name of Destibier? Well, deceased or not, his spirit put in an appearance at Tangleton and scared off the greens. I spoke with him in fact; he confirmed that he was related (a "distant cousin" as he put it), and he gave me a mandate to defend the kobolds under Troll's Bridge and to gather the tribes under my banner. Basically, what I was already doing, yes? I am grateful that he is staying to defend Tangleton, but I do not like how he treats us. Like we are his possessions, perhaps. A father is responsible for his children, but he does not own them.

Shortly after the encounter, I began plotting with T'Krosh about how best to assert authority over the Tanglewood tribes. But before we got very far, there was yet another crisis! Wintersky scryed me to tell me there was trouble brewing between Oli and Imhiakaam. Sooo, we teleported once again, this time to pick up Sparta and his new companion, a halfling woman named Dale. I had to drag Sparta out of his clanhold mid-speech (sorry Sparta!), but we got to Troll's Bridge in time. With everyone gathered together, we stormed the Troll's Bridge castle to Oli's rescue. T'Krosh and I brought our weasel mounts this time since we were expecting battle. In hindsight, perhaps it was not a good idea? The dire weasels are ferocious in battle, but they are not of sound enough constitution to withstand magical blasts of cold from ICE DEVILS AND A SUCCUBUS WITCH! Because that's exactly what was inside that damned castle! And then there was the blood! Enough blood to fill a swimming pool - it was everywhere! Splattered on the doors, on the walls, even on the ceilings. I can't even imagine where all that blood came from, considering how few people actually died. Maybe the devils teleported it in from the Nine Hells with them?

As I said, there were devils inside, including Imhiakaam. We killed the ice devils (I hope we never come within 100 miles of one of those things again), and Mask drove off Imhiakaam, but only at the cost of the lives of our weasel mounts. I do hope that the reincarnation stories are true, because Biter was a loyal, brave companion. He deserves better if he lives again. T'Krosh gave a little prayer for Biter and for his own mount. That may be the first "priest" work I've seen him do? He took it very seriously, I noticed.

The Gaedracis is dead! Again! And this time he'll stay dead. The big break in the search came recently when the lich attacked Redemption again, assuming me and the other "Heroes" were there. We've moved on to bigger and more important things though, so all he did was hurt innocents. Or maybe I should say noncombatants? We're innocents too! Anyway, Tesela was killed, and Brezaya (the woman with big breasts) was badly hurt. Luckily, one of Ms. Sky's compatriots was able to track the lich back to its lair after the attack. I was notified and met the others at Redemption so we could launch the counterattack!

We stopped at Tangleton for a night during the march. I hope nobody was too disappointed at the small tunnels and the hastily built hobbit holes, but I tried to stress that the new town is still under construction (and will be for some time). Maybe one of my friends will stay there when we are done adventuring? Oli will be busy with his own city of course, and Wintersky will probably return to her own tribe. Maybe I can convince Leggy to make a home here? We could use his muscle! And maybe the quiet setting will soothe his nerves a bit.

The next day, we located the Gaedracis's lair. The approach was dangerous - not so much for us, but for Wintersky's friend! The ghost Chelsia, along with a really nasty blade trap, cut him into tiny pieces and then deformed his spirit! T'Krosh showed his interest moreso than I, and he was very insensitive about it! Yes, the trap was very effective, and I'm sure we were both thinking about how we could build a few of them ourselves for Tangleton. But a friend of a friend had something horrible happen to him! For being a priest, T'Krosh is not much of a "people person."

Our assault on the lich went quickly. I summoned a very large magma spider to tear down the outer gate, and then we proceeded inside. Have I written of the spider before? I only researched the method to summon it recently. The spider is like an enormous one from this world, but made of pure fire (even its web). It is truly an amazing creature. Anyway, we were immediately beset by wraiths and, of course, the lich himself. Mask stole the show once again by turning the undead gnoll into dust with a disintegration. She lacks style! All she ever does is point her finger and poof, dust. Meanwhile I made a spectacle by setting the entire room on fire! Ahaha! Now that catches people's attention! The wraiths perished quickly, and nobody was seriously hurt in the encounter. We then had to disarm a bizarre trap which was protecting the Gaedracis's phylactery.

The gnoll is very stupid really. Why would he make a quiz based trap if he only intended to be able to disarm it himself? He should have made the questions tied to events in his own (un)life - things that only he would know. As it was, Oliveryn and Legeand easily disarmed it. Sparta had the honor of completing his revenge by destroying the phylactery with his own summoned fire creature. I hope the halflings of Rebelton who were killed can rest easy now.

Oh, and Chelsia is still on the loose. The Gaedracis was, in my view, the more dangerous of the pair since he could raise an undead army. Chelsia is just a lone spirit, if frightening in her own power.

Sparta wanted to get some halfling workers for Tangleton - oh, we settled on a name for the new settlement - so I teleported him to Rebelton about a week ago. That's when we saw that something was wrong. There were nobody around on the streets, not even animals. We searched around for a bit and, after dodging a few arrows from them, found the scared softskins hiding in their clanhold. Long story short, I fetched everyone else from Troll's Bridge so we could go on a lich hunt. And a ghost hunt, since Legeand's ghost friend is apparently here too.

The whole scene was very suspenseful at first. Some of the halflings were sickened by the undead, so Wintersky had to immediately start treatment. Some Rebeltoners were trapped in their mage tower, so Mask and I had to see about freeing them before they starved. Most unnerving was that the graveyard was dug up! Clearly, the lich worked some animation magic on the corpses, because we found bony tracks leading away. But one by one, we solved each problem.

Except the lich's army. The party has been spending the last week trying to find where the Gaedracis is hiding at, without luck. Now that we have greater responsibilities (Tangleton for me and Sparta, Troll's Bridge for Oli), a week is a long time to spend killing undead. So I've been working on my own until we find where the lich is, burning undead corpses and helping the excavation of Tangleton. Mining is not ideal work for me, I find. I can superheat rock walls, but as for handling a pick? Any of my followers are more productive. I suppose that's not too unusual though. The general of an army is expected to be a good leader, not a super-being in combat (although that is often the case anyway).

As part of Oli's plot to take control of Troll's Bridge's government, he had the rebel "leader" Eregard summon all of the house lords together. No, not to kill them in one strike. Although that would have easily started a revolution if we could have blamed it on the mayor, I think.

Ringo is alive! ALIVE! If magic can retore a dog to life after a full day of being dead, then it can do anything. It can turn me into living fire, unite my kin, and get me a huge pile of coin to sleep on. Hmm... but it's not really magic that accomplishes those goals: just a strong will. Still, I do not think Sparta could resurrect his dog just by willing it. In any case, that loose end is tied up. It wasn't the only matter we left untended. See, the Elans apparently thought it would be a good idea to store superpowerful monsters in their basement. Why that would ever be a good idea, I'm not sure. When the tower came crumbling down last night, the monsters became just as free as the slaves. So today, it fell to us to chase down the missing beasts as they wreaked havoc in the city. 

Poor Ringo. Sparta's dog got killed during the mission today to recover Ozi's slaves. He was ferocious as ever one second, and then wham, he got the life sucked out of him the next. Oh, and Miqulius and was killed by the necromancy spell too. Hmm, have I mentioned that man before? He is one of Ozi's friends I think. I guess that makes him my friend too... but I knew Ringo for longer! And besides, Miqulius was only dead for a few seconds thanks to Wintersky's abilities.

The rescue plan went off without a hitch, at least to begin with. Mask used group invisibility spell to take us all into the House Elan, and then we found most of Ozi's countrymen on the first floor. We didn't even have to fight anyone to do it! Makes you wonder why the slaves hadn't already walked out the front door. After we set the first batch free, Wintersky let us know that there were more waiting on the top floor of the tower. When we entered the apex, we found a single sorceress waiting for us in a room filled with portals. She managed to set off an alarm before getting cut down by our group's swords.

"Okay," I was thinking, "that's some cause for alarm. Who knows what can teleport through those doorways?" I was expecting a huge demon or some other monstrosity to pop out, but instead a pack of human mages came through led by Methylpenta, Elan's leader. I should have recognized how dangerous the situation was, but I'm so used to fighting non-spellcasters! Except for their leader, they only had low level magics - magic missiles and charms for the most part. But in their large numbers, such spells almost stopped our rescue attempt. Worse, Methylpenta possessed very potent spells, including the death effect that drained the life from Ringo. But not the slaves in the room! Nope, they were already felled by Wintersky's dispel on the bonds that held them 20 feet in the air. (To be fair, it would have been my spell that killed them were it not resisted.)

The only good thing about fighting the mages was that they did not wear huge armor or have thick hides like demons. My party members' swords hacked right through them, and the mages surrendered after Methylpenta got roasted by Mask. I figured that I'd make them pay for killing the dog though, so I burned down their tower to the ground! Mwahaha! After the dust settled, Ozi saw to his freed relatives, Ringo carried off his dead dog, and we returned to Oliveryn's manor. Sparta is talking about resurrecting his dog now, but I can't say I would do the same. There are many replacement dogs he could get, and they would not cost thousands of gold worth of diamonds to resurrect. I mean, if Yentis were to get himself killed, I wouldn't think for a second to spend th -

Ouch. Stupid weasel has a sharp bite.

At times, our group has an odd sense of priorities. The duerger ghost from last night mentioned something about an invasion of mind-flayers: MIND-FLAYERS! The squid people who have domination magic and can suck out your brains through your nose! You'd think we would want to do something about that, yes? But no, instead we're going to focus on stealing some slaves for Ozimius. I shouldn't complain too much. After all, everyone went out of their way to help me rescue (the corpses of) those mercenaries I hired. I need to pay back that favor of course. But Ozi won't have much use for his slaves if his brain is sucked out by an illithid tentacle.

About the slaves, they are more of Ozi's countrymen, like those at the auction where Oliveryn was assassinated. Only these ones are owned by House Elan, so they were out of Oliveryn's power to free. Not that there's any sort of plan for helping them back on their feet. It sounds like we're going to unlock their cells, kick them outside in the cold, and tell them to fend for themselves in this lousy city. They'd be better off as slaves! Sparta suggested that they could come to our new settlement, so that is a little more realistic - there's plenty of work to be done there (I could use a softskin slave too...). Although, I'm not sure how Ozi would feel about such a drastic relocation. He might want to keep his distant family close by in the city.

This isn't to say we didn't make any plans about the mind-flayers. We did decide to gather information about them first. Mask is going to speak with her lich master about them, and we decided to also ask the githyanki, mortal enemies of the illithid, for advice. That task was left to me, so I got to speak with Grez through a scrying spell! It's been so long! And our first encounter was rather brief, but I liked her anyway. Something about her running away from home and fighting off her pursuers was very familiar, yes? My conversation through the scrying spell was unfortunately short. She say she couldn't let me come to her home for research - gith only! - but that she'd try to come to Troll's Bridge soon. I can't wait!

Yesterday, my companions (and Mask) joined me to investigate what wrong with the adventurers I hired. Along the way, I finally met with Mexkir, leader of the Troll's Bridge kobolds. He professed interest in having is tribe follow my leadership, so we struck a formal deal. Once I helped him to stop the Duergar attacks, he would allow the use of his cave as an outpost for the new city. I am glad that the trade went smoothly; Oli may be formally trained in negotiation skills, but I am not. I usually have to rely purely on charisma (and it does usually serve me well enough).

With that little matter out of the way, my party continued its descent into the cave network. Our first warning of trouble was when we found the bodies of many duergar along the path. As we approached the main cave, we prepared ourselves physically, mentally, and magically. At our best, we stormed into the cave to find several Duergar waiting. Sparta tried to greet them, but he was soon attacked. Amazingly, Sparta dodged the blows and continued trying to speak with the dwarves! He was honest and persistent, but unfortunately, his attackers just were not interested. With great reluctance, we let loose our full arsenal of attacks. The Duergar did possess some basic magical abilities - an enlarging spell and invisibility - but we were already had our most prepared. They did not even stand a chance.

After we finished mopping up the last few resisters, we came upon a cave littered with dwarf bodies. I also confirmed that my hirelings met their end, as their corpses were also present. Apparently, my hired adventurers decided to try slaughtering the dwarves on their own. And while that was an acceptable outcome to the problem, I would have rather they just scouted around like I asked. It does not make me a very good leader if my foreign policy consists of "commit genocide first, negotiate later." I do not feel very good about their actions, but Sparta and I decided it would be best to bring their bodies above to be buried according to their customs. It is a sad fact, but I can afford to make enemies of the Duergar, but not the humans - regardless of which party deserved their fate (if either did).

More disturbing to me than anything was that Wintersky immediately started conversing with the ghosts of the dwarves. I only caught half the conversation, but I wish I heard none of it. I was feeling guilty enough, and I did not need to be reminded that presumably innocent families were killed by men I should have been responsible for. I suppose all I can do is force myself not to dwell on the issue.

Oh yes, and Mask had some sort of breakdown in the aftermath of the fight. She saw the pile of bodies and, crying terribly, teleported away. It seemed uncharacteristic for the mage. I have seen her kill many people with magic similar to my own, so why did she only lose her composure with the Duergar? At least humans has a physical way to express their sadness. I was more responsible for the slaughter than she was, and I feel guilty too, so would I be crying too if I were able to?

Oh, shortly after I arrived, T'Krosh informed me that my hirelings had disappeared more than a week ago. That was most troubling to me; one of the big reasons I hired them was so that me and my friends would not have to get involved with the duergar. We have our hands full protecting Oli already! My friends were gracious enough to agree to help me investigate beneath the city, but I told them it could wait until after the ball.