Clemence Castor's Journal

## **#1**

Today I descended into the dungeons for the first time, and all I can say is "good grief!". I can see how my comrade died in service.

Just as I expected, they are all reckless. Specially the Dwarf. I don't even remember his name since I invested all my attention into counting the times he put the party in jeopardy with his foolhardiness.

Then there's this young elf lady - Vaad save me - she has no concept of self-preservation. But what's worse: I had to spend a whole hour banging my head against a wall while she tinkered with some enchanted chess pieces - I swear, if the creatures that haunt these halls don't get me, the boredom will.

The other two feel a bit more levelheaded: a fellow Paladin of His Lordship and a stalwart noble who is surprisingly efficient at unlocking doors with his body mass.

Unfortunately, my incursion did not end in glory. I fell fighting beside the noble - my magic spent before the confrontation, trying to amend the mistakes of the careless... No, that's just an excuse for my weakness. I must become stronger!

## **#2**

Second incursion today. So many revelations.

The noble was not with us this time, regrettably. Instead, an anxious young man joined our ranks. Quite the level-headed fellow, at least. But that's not where the surprises ended.

The Paladin was not wearing his usual colors today. He seems to have abandoned his cause and joined the fighter's path. I do not know how we will manage without the aid of his divine healing. We are a larger than usual party, and I already felt overwhelmed last time when there were two of us spreading Vaad's benevolence...

On the bright side of things, the rash dwarven ranger must have banged his head hard against a blunt surface because he was acting completely differently from before. He did not put the party in danger a single time, even going as far as to hand out regenerative berries to everyone, which I must admit was a huge relief, and a minor consolation after the loss of the Paladin.

The elf lady, however, remains an untamed ball of energy - free, careless, dangerous energy

But I'm not one to talk, as this time I was the one dragging a party member into danger due to my carelessness. Haste makes waste, as some say, and this time I almost ended up the one wasted - not to mention I dragged another into peril with me. I shall forever  have nightmares of solid stone blocks descending slowly from the ceiling.

But there's also some good news. We discovered a path into the second level of the dungeon and we all emerged conscious into the roar of the crowd above after our venture.

## **#3**

I was very excited for today's descent, and it did not disappoint.

The noble was with us again today. The ex-Paladin was absent though. The extra muscle would've been welcome, but at least this way I have less comrades in need of my healing... and luckily the answer to "how many fully armored men does it take to crash through an unlocked wooden door?" is "just one".

Everyone else was as I remembered them from last week: the dwarf was cooperative, the boy wizard was quiet and reserved and the elf was over-compensating for the boy's lack of energy by being her usual exploding ball of vivacity.

We spent most of our time exploring the second level. We stumbled upon a few dead-ends at first, but things got better the deeper we ventured. At some point I even noticed a treasure shining in the distance. And just below her there was a stash of gold coins. The elven girl... I can't believe one can be so radiant and full of bliss. She walks into danger as though she's out to make a friend of it. She must've cast a spell on me, for I am completely charmed.

Some other things happened but their importance feels diminished. We walked knee-deep in bat shit, fought some truly terrifying aberrations, I almost died again...

Oh, who cares? Tomorrow I'm spending my day perusing the local market for the nicest bundle of candles I can find!