8 Kuthona 4717 Today was frustrating. There much talk of Drow and Aasimar and other things which I didn’t understand, and my comrades spent lots of time talking down to me. I’m not a fucking academic, and nobody in this group seems capable of speaking plainly. Clearly I couldn’t depend on them to explain these complicated matters, which means I have to ask lots of direct questions. But then I get made fun of for asking a stupid question, even though I was raised to believe there’s no such thing as a stupid question. I’m trying not to be angry at my friends. I keep telling myself that they just don’t know any better. But it’s hard when they’re being such dicks. So here’s what happened today: During our travels today from Sandpoint to Magnimar. We were attacked by a group of six elves from Kyonin, which is Basti’s home. The elves were part of some Elven Center for Disease Control, and were researching the recent plague that the Old Man cured in Nybor. At first, everyone was very friendly. We showed them the tattoo symbol we found on the Drow in Nybor (and on the Bugbear Inoklar in Magnimar) and Old Man shared the curative formula he developed. The Old Man was being very evasive with the elves about how he figured out the cure. The strange thing was that these elves didn’t know about the existence of the Drow elves. While I didn’t know about the Drow until recently, I assumed that elves knew about them. But clearly that’s not the case. The elves also seemed to get agitated when we mentioned the fleshwarping experiments we believe the Drow are conducting. Our two groups parted on good terms, but the elves quickly turned around, and attacked us from behind. When it seemed we were winning the battle, the fighter of their group grabbed his holy symbol and proclaimed “This will not be the last of this”. All six of their holy symbols started glowing, and they all disintegrated into ashes. (Basti and Tyche both recognized the holy symbols as belonging to Ketephys, the elven god of hunting.) Luckily, all the elves belongings were intact, and I claimed a stronger mithral shirt and a magic belt that increased my strength. Each elf was also wearing a ring with strange symbol, which no one seemed to recognize. At this point, we were all eying Old Man, as he was the one who told us of the Drow’s existence, and he had even lived in their Darklands. Through Matabi’s telepathic link, I suggested that we visit Morren’s Orphanage immediately upon entering Magnimar, so that we could have a private place to interrogate Old Man before Anuthys had a chance to silence him. Basti and Matabi agreed. At the orphanage, Miss Morren informed us that Nielis and his sister had been adopted three days ago by a couple named Maximillian and Loretta. The old lady provided us their home address in the upscale part of town, so that we could check in on the two siblings. (Another confusing moment, as I thought Gethen’s brother was adopting Nielis and his sister, but I decided not to pursue the topic.) Miss Morren let us meet in private, we confronted Old Man to give us more information about the Drow, and why the elves attacked us. Old Man confessed that he himself was half-Drow, as he was born of a Drow father and a human mother, into House Symrivvin. Anuthys was also Drow, and his half-sister (which I assume means they share the same father). House Symrivvin was ruled by female drow, with all the male drow being their slaves. Old Man’s real name is Rothe, which means slave. (Old Man implored us never to use his real name.) When House Symrivvin fell, the Old Man fled the Darklands with Anuthys. We were still no closer to figuring out why the elves had attacked us. Was there some enmity between them and Basti’s family in Kyonin? Was it the mention of the fleshwarp experiments, which seemed to upset the elves? Were they suspicious of Old Man’s cures? Or was it the revelation of the Drow’s existence? Old Man shared that he believed Nualia to be half-drow, not just half-elf. (Does this mean that half- drow can recognize each other?) He then pulled Nualia severed head out of his backpack to cast Speak with Dead. What the fuck? How did I miss this chopping and storing of a head? How many other heads does Old Man have? Regardless, Old Man got no useful information from Nualia, but he will keep her head to try again next week. (Reminder to self: never store anything in Old Man’s bags.) Old Man did not recognize the symbol on the elves rings. He said his priority was to ensure the safety of his family, who he left behind in Nybor. Again, what the fuck? Who are these family members? Are they drow too? Or did he marry and raise kids after he fled the Darklands? And why is he with Anuthys instead of them? If Anuthys is drow, does that mean Old Man is her slave? This is some fucked up shit. While we were having these conversations, Old Man had Velm fly to the Nielis’s new home, only to learn the address provided to Miss Morren was fake. (Does the old woman not do any background checks, or does she just hand out orphans to anyone who asks for one?) This means Nielis and his sister have likely been kidnapped…again. Our group began debating if Nielis and his sister where taken because they were Aasimar. When I asked what an Aasimar was, the “talking down” began in earnest. Apparently the Aasimar are humans with celestial blood. Trixie revealed that she was Aasimar. (I thought she was a half-elf.) My comrades proceeded to tell me that these conversations had happened before, but I insisted that I was not present for them, and had no way of knowing this information. I certainly would have remembered the word Aasimar, since it sounds like “ass is more”. But of course, I was wrong and stupid, and my comrades are all correct and smart. Fucking assholes. We finally made our way to the Pathfinder Lodge, and after stabling Shadowmist, we met with Sheila. We updated her on our adventures in Sandpoint, and our encounter with the elves. Sheila then shared with us a note that Anuthys had translated from Inoklar’s belongings: Inoklar You must take advantage of the chaos in the city to advance our business. Organize the goblins living in the sewers. They are weak minded and will certainly follow someone of your strength. If they resist, simply snap a few necks. I have also mapped several of the sewer tunnels and there is a grate that leads directly into the basement of the Knackery. This should provide you with a means to move with relative ease, you simply need to intimidate the owner. He is particularly fond of his children. I have also enclosed as a separate note the “catalog” - use the third cipher. The buyers in Caliphas are particularly fond of the blood of those touched by the divine. Please take note of the value. I will reward you handsomely the more gold you bring in. After you have collected 20 “high value” items, or the first of the month, whichever comes first, return to Thistletop with your most blood thirsty goblins. Do not fail me. Nualia A second translated note showed the value for various slaves based on age and race, with young Aasimar being the highest value. (I noted that Nualia’s notes never used the term Aasimar, just as my friends never used the term before today.) This explains why Inoklar’s goblins were kidnapping non- human children, as they were worth more on resale. (It seems awfully coincidental that our errand for Urmlosh in Sandpoint led us to the mastermind of the kidnappings in Magnimar.) At least we now have a clue to locate the missing children, as Nualia mentioned “buyers in Caliphas” which is a city in Ustalav. We next talked about poor Liem, whose throat was slashed in his quarters, and who was likely tortured before he was murdered. Anuthys had cast divination spells on Liem’s body, which revealed the same ring symbol the elves wore. Sheila confessed that she didn’t believe our stories of the Drow in Nybor, but Liem had began researching the Drow when he was murdered. The next piece of shocking news was that the entire town of Nybor had been destroyed by six elves matching the description of the one we defeated today. What does this mean for Old Man’s family? Did they escape the massacre? He remained stone-faced, and I’m actually beginning to feel sorry for him. Based on all this information, Sheila has come to some conclusions: • The Drow really do exist, and a group of elves is trying to prevent that knowledge from spreading. • The elves must have learned of the Drow in Nybor, and Liem’s investigations, from the reports Sheila filed with the Grand Pathfinder Lodge in Absalom. This means there is an elven spy in the upper echelons of the Pathfinder Society. • The elves destroyed Nybor to prevent any of the residents from revealing what they knew of the Drow, and then proceeded to Magnimar to kill Liem for the same purpose.