Letters from Lexi #1
Dear Freddie
Greetings from (redacted)!
After a few days at the port, I made my way over the pass to the main base camp and had just enough time to drop my bags off before being drafted into a patrol out to one of the secondary camps.
We arrived to find them under attack from these spider-like insects. They are really rather fascinating creatures, (although it is disconcerting to see such large spiders) - apparently they are innately magical (and miraculous, as we found later). This gives rise to the possibility of natural necromancers, which is a somewhat disturbing prospect. Maybe there is more than standard guild paranoia behind sending two Humacti here (unfortunately I haven't had the chance to meet the other chap yet).
We were sent out to locate a missing Pathfinder but we had been dispatched in such a rush there was no-one with us with any ability at tracking. Our Acolyte declared himself willing to give it a try and we set off. I got to chat with a very approachable Seeker by the name of Dizzy, who had a map of the area, and met her brother Rico, who seems a bit grumpy (but he is a might priest so I suppose that's only to be expected).
The spiders varied in size and magical ability and therefore in threat. We had a couple of Gladiators with us (Marius and Mattias - very confusing) so we did well in combat until the spiders deployed their spells. Dizzy and I did offer them protections of Freedom but of course were turned down. I picked my battles carefully for the most part and their claws (mandibles? Father would know the proper term...) barely scratched me but the darts packed a punch. Some of the water-aligned ones kept luring our warriors into going for a swim, at which point I got fed up and weaknessed a couple of them (the spiders, not the warriors, though the latter would probably have worked too).
After a brief diversion to some hot springs (more or less), we ended up following an animal track through the woodland. You remember the route Father took us along to see those rare deer near Illyria? Now imagine doing it in drizzling rain, after days of the same. At least this time my boots didn't leak. Actually, the hot water reminded me of that trip too, maybe there is some truth to the rumours this island is an extinct volcano...
We encountered a number of 'shambling mounds' which looked like moving bushes with thrashing branches. They were slow but not slow enough for the whole patrol group to get through without incident. Fire seemed particularly effective against them (and might priests, unsurprisingly - against the shambling mounds, that is, I'm not setting fire to might priests).
Eventually we found the missing Pathfinder, surrounded by spiders and shambling mounds, which were led by a huge spider, about twice as tall as any of us and almost the same wide. We managed to determine the Pathfinder was being influenced by a tree to want to stay there and then I ended up facing down said huge spider to insist we wouldn't stand for any such oppression of her free will and that they should let her go. Acolyte Francis did some fast talking and they agreed we all could leave (thank Crisian, since I don't think we would have survived freeing her by force).
All in all, an eventful introduction to the island! Trust Rhaeteth to take me literally - may we live in interesting times indeed!!
Anyway, how are the Towers treating you? Mother says you've finally settled on Water. You better not test any mind tricks on me or I'll be likely to mistake you for a spider and squash you... Hopefully any patrols you get sent out on will be less hectic. If you get a forwarding address for Mother and Father do let me know - with all the fascinating flora and fauna here, I know what they're getting for Yule this year...
May the blessings of the Seven be with you.
Love Lexi