Caves of Sorrow

These caves lie west/south west of the town. About one and half days out lies the Caves of Sorrow. The caves are dark and filled with spider webs and stalactites.

Lurking in the ceiling there was a roper. A huge monstrosity with long tentacles that grabs anyone who passes. When not moving it is indistinguishable from the natural formations of the caves. There might be more, be on the look out.

An even larger threat are the halfling/spider monsters living in the caves. They are small creatures with four arms and two legs, with an affinitive for bone daggers with silk handles. There might also be a larger one of these creatures who uses some sort of poison coated on the daggers.

- Account of Golin Strongbeard.

Account of Relar Rumasti

The caves are filled with a vast variety of mushrooms, including spotted blue mushrooms, that have a neutralizing agent that mixed with some herbs, can provide a potent antidote for poisons. But, far more fascinating than that is the creatures I have ordained to call 'Chitterers', due to the Chittering sound that they make when running across their webs in the caves. They have a multitude of arms, and seem to be some hybrid of spiders and humanoids. Golin suggested halflings, although their features seem somewhat more elvish to me. These creatures seem to have an affinity for poisons, seeming due to their arachnoid nature. Whether these poisons are produced alchemically, biologically, or magically is yet to be determined, on account of not being able to recover any corpses, due to the hasty exit we were forced to make. Another mission will be made in the coming days to retrieve at least the corpse of the Chieftain, although if some of the smaller corpses can be recovered as well, we may be able to outfit ourselves with poison, or at least find a fast-acting neutralizing agent for it.

As for culture, there was not much to decipher. I was unable to understand what the Chieftain was saying, although Immeral did. I will speak with him further, see if I can approximate their language. Perhaps a method to communicate with them? Although, Immeral's attempts at negotiation did seem to fail quite miserably.

Continuing with Culture, the Chitterer's seem to have respect for their own kind. Whereas the corpses of the miners, and of the roper, were desiccated, their own corpses were not. There was also a drawing made in the cave, made of blood. It is unclear to me if this was made by the Chitterers, or by the miners. Either way, I do not recognize the symbol, nor did Jayne. I did draw the symbol, clearing it up a bit. If any holy men, or men of religious, or maybe even arcane knowledge, can decipher what this symbol is, or what it might mean. Relar Rumasti's Second Account

After returning to the cave, we discovered these creatures of darkness, who were proficient in spellcasting enough to cast a field of darkness that blotted out all light. They are also quite sensitive to bright lights, as was discovered when they attempted to stab me whilst I had the spell light cast upon my bow. I have dubbed these creature to be "Lurkers", as they lurk in the darkness, lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Be warned if you encounter these Lurkers: Upon their deaths, they burst into bright light, bright enough to cause physical pain and to blind you if you do not take the proper precautions.

For culture, I could not understand their language, but they did seem to come from the Underdark, judging by their sensitivity to light, the symbol of Lolth, and the fact that they had Underdark coinage on their remains. This means that there is an Underdark connection on this island, and that may be something to fear, as well as exploit, when the time comes. A connection to the Underdark means that we may, in fact, be able to use this to our advantage, creating a path to the mainland that does not require magicks or a boat to utilize. I will be sending the King a report on this, so that he may begin scouting for a possible connection that links up to the Underdark system near us.

We must wait and see.