Gwenna
09-13-2007, 06:32 PM
Five notebooks bound in green leather are clasped tightly together with leather straps. A tanned hand pulls out the first of the lot and opens it up, going over entries written many years previously. The pages are of thick kidskin vellum, and each page has little drawings or maps doodled next to the entries. Some pages have small leaves pressed between them, flattened and brown with age.
Volume One, Entry One - dated 5 years ago
Today we set out from Ironforge, twenty five of us in total. There are four groups of five applicants each accompanied by an experienced Explorer acting as an observer. The Expedition Leader will be traveling between each of the base camps to coordinate with our observers and to make sure that we are all making steady progress.
I'm nervous. There are several of us that are extremely good, I know, I've been summing up my competition for weeks now. Thank Khaz that we are being considered on an individual basis and not as teams. Team Galdaz has two of the strongest competitors in my mind. How they both ended up on the same team I'll never know, perhaps it's just a fluke. My own team has a couple good people, one I'm unsure of and one that I had hoped would end up elsewhere. I'm fortunate that K has taken over leadership of the group. He may be a lackluster tracker, but he's very good at cooling off tempers, mine included, he'll make a difference in our group dynamic that's for certain. A can't compete with my marksmanship, but she's the better herbalist there's no doubt there and her first aid skills are second to none. U is just a lazy bastard, I don't know how he was even considered in the first place. He's alright at tracking things, but he always overlooks something important and he overestimates his skills terribly. His rashness and boastful nature could get us into trouble. Y is so quiet I'm not sure what to make of him. He seems to know far more about many of the subjects likely to come up than the rest of us combined, but he is obviously not made for grueling days spent in the wilderness. I can't help but like him, but I'm afraid he's going to hold our team back.
The good news is that aside from Team Galdaz I think our competition is fairly slim. The other two teams are burdened with too many people like Y or U. That will hold them back enough. But still, if an individual from there shines brightly against the dullness of their group mates then it might turn out to be in their favor. At this point I'm trying to make as few assumptions as possible.
We separated from the other groups at the base of Khaz Modan and each of us set off in a different direction. Our group is stationed up near the pass to Anvilmar. We will be getting our first clues in the morning and I dearly hope that we'll be up to the task. I think that K, A and I should be able to carry the dead weight of the others if it comes to it.
I should get some sleep, though it'll be hard coming tonight for all of us.
Volume One, Entry Five - dated 5 years ago
We're six days in and as I suspected Team Galdaz is in the lead. K, A, Y and I have determined that the last puzzle is pointing in the direction of Shimmer Ridge. There are seasonal Troll encampments there, and the presence of trollish weapons combined with a mention of strange visions that the previous Expedition encountered means that Shimmer Ridge is our best bet to find trolls and shimmerweed.
Our progress has improved greatly since U was removed by the medics. He should recover well though they had to amputate his leg at the knee. If not for A's quick thinking and my well aimed shot the bear could well have killed him not that he wouldn't have deserved it, the bastard. It fled up into the hills, wounded but angry as ever. The claws on that thing were something to behold. I don't doubt there'll be a hunting party sent out to track it down.
Y has surprised me. Although he remains the slowest member of the party (and it is easy to see how much the strenuous activity taxes him) he has not complained even once. His pace may not be fast, but it is steady, and he has persevered along with the rest of us. His vast knowledge over many subjects has saved us hours of deliberation and puzzle solving. I am glad now that he is in our group.
We have decided to make up the lost time by traveling east into Loch Modan through the North Pass. From there we will take one of the hidden passes up into the mountains, this overland route is full of hard days of hiking, but there is little to fear in the way of delays except for the thread of avalanche, which is small this early in the snow season. We should arrive at Shimmer Ridge with a day's hard hike. What awaits us there, I do not know.
Volume One, Entry Sixteen - dated 5 years ago
We are nearing the end of the trial, just two days left to reach our goal. The last few weeks have paid off beautifully. One of the other teams was forced to drop out last night after their observer caught four of them using an illegal chatbox to communicate with an associate back in Ironforge. He'd been translating all of the rune-clues for them from a book at the great library! That's some nerve! I feel bad for their lead tracker though. Apparently she hadn't been involved at all. There's no way she'll be able to finish the trial on her own unless she is allowed to join another team. That's actually fairly likely since all of us have had at least one loss. I heard, though this is just a rumor mind you, that one of the people in Team Galdaz quit last week in a fit of anger. We're so close to our goal it seems silly to get yourself disqualified.
Our team is doing better than ever, though I think K is wearing under the strain of the long hours. Surprisingly Y has taken over much of the leadership of the group. The last couple weeks have done him good. He's stronger and he pulls more of his own weight. In fact, he's starting to show some skill with that ugly old gun of his. I wouldn't mind giving him some lessons after this is all over.
A and I have got this puzzle almost all worked out, it took forever for us to prize it out of the mountain side, but it's a magnificent find. The runes should give us the last piece of the master puzzle. Once its solved then we're done!
I caught a glimpse of our observer yesterday. He was perched in a tall pine a few hundred feet from our base camp here on the mountain. I wouldn't have seen him if not for the reflection of his spyglass. I made a hand sign at him to let him know that his position was uncovered. It's been something of a game between us for the last few days, I think he's testing my skills at observation. Thus far no one else has noticed him, I haven't shared our private game with them. This one is for me.
Volume One, Entry One - dated 5 years ago
Today we set out from Ironforge, twenty five of us in total. There are four groups of five applicants each accompanied by an experienced Explorer acting as an observer. The Expedition Leader will be traveling between each of the base camps to coordinate with our observers and to make sure that we are all making steady progress.
I'm nervous. There are several of us that are extremely good, I know, I've been summing up my competition for weeks now. Thank Khaz that we are being considered on an individual basis and not as teams. Team Galdaz has two of the strongest competitors in my mind. How they both ended up on the same team I'll never know, perhaps it's just a fluke. My own team has a couple good people, one I'm unsure of and one that I had hoped would end up elsewhere. I'm fortunate that K has taken over leadership of the group. He may be a lackluster tracker, but he's very good at cooling off tempers, mine included, he'll make a difference in our group dynamic that's for certain. A can't compete with my marksmanship, but she's the better herbalist there's no doubt there and her first aid skills are second to none. U is just a lazy bastard, I don't know how he was even considered in the first place. He's alright at tracking things, but he always overlooks something important and he overestimates his skills terribly. His rashness and boastful nature could get us into trouble. Y is so quiet I'm not sure what to make of him. He seems to know far more about many of the subjects likely to come up than the rest of us combined, but he is obviously not made for grueling days spent in the wilderness. I can't help but like him, but I'm afraid he's going to hold our team back.
The good news is that aside from Team Galdaz I think our competition is fairly slim. The other two teams are burdened with too many people like Y or U. That will hold them back enough. But still, if an individual from there shines brightly against the dullness of their group mates then it might turn out to be in their favor. At this point I'm trying to make as few assumptions as possible.
We separated from the other groups at the base of Khaz Modan and each of us set off in a different direction. Our group is stationed up near the pass to Anvilmar. We will be getting our first clues in the morning and I dearly hope that we'll be up to the task. I think that K, A and I should be able to carry the dead weight of the others if it comes to it.
I should get some sleep, though it'll be hard coming tonight for all of us.
Volume One, Entry Five - dated 5 years ago
We're six days in and as I suspected Team Galdaz is in the lead. K, A, Y and I have determined that the last puzzle is pointing in the direction of Shimmer Ridge. There are seasonal Troll encampments there, and the presence of trollish weapons combined with a mention of strange visions that the previous Expedition encountered means that Shimmer Ridge is our best bet to find trolls and shimmerweed.
Our progress has improved greatly since U was removed by the medics. He should recover well though they had to amputate his leg at the knee. If not for A's quick thinking and my well aimed shot the bear could well have killed him not that he wouldn't have deserved it, the bastard. It fled up into the hills, wounded but angry as ever. The claws on that thing were something to behold. I don't doubt there'll be a hunting party sent out to track it down.
Y has surprised me. Although he remains the slowest member of the party (and it is easy to see how much the strenuous activity taxes him) he has not complained even once. His pace may not be fast, but it is steady, and he has persevered along with the rest of us. His vast knowledge over many subjects has saved us hours of deliberation and puzzle solving. I am glad now that he is in our group.
We have decided to make up the lost time by traveling east into Loch Modan through the North Pass. From there we will take one of the hidden passes up into the mountains, this overland route is full of hard days of hiking, but there is little to fear in the way of delays except for the thread of avalanche, which is small this early in the snow season. We should arrive at Shimmer Ridge with a day's hard hike. What awaits us there, I do not know.
Volume One, Entry Sixteen - dated 5 years ago
We are nearing the end of the trial, just two days left to reach our goal. The last few weeks have paid off beautifully. One of the other teams was forced to drop out last night after their observer caught four of them using an illegal chatbox to communicate with an associate back in Ironforge. He'd been translating all of the rune-clues for them from a book at the great library! That's some nerve! I feel bad for their lead tracker though. Apparently she hadn't been involved at all. There's no way she'll be able to finish the trial on her own unless she is allowed to join another team. That's actually fairly likely since all of us have had at least one loss. I heard, though this is just a rumor mind you, that one of the people in Team Galdaz quit last week in a fit of anger. We're so close to our goal it seems silly to get yourself disqualified.
Our team is doing better than ever, though I think K is wearing under the strain of the long hours. Surprisingly Y has taken over much of the leadership of the group. The last couple weeks have done him good. He's stronger and he pulls more of his own weight. In fact, he's starting to show some skill with that ugly old gun of his. I wouldn't mind giving him some lessons after this is all over.
A and I have got this puzzle almost all worked out, it took forever for us to prize it out of the mountain side, but it's a magnificent find. The runes should give us the last piece of the master puzzle. Once its solved then we're done!
I caught a glimpse of our observer yesterday. He was perched in a tall pine a few hundred feet from our base camp here on the mountain. I wouldn't have seen him if not for the reflection of his spyglass. I made a hand sign at him to let him know that his position was uncovered. It's been something of a game between us for the last few days, I think he's testing my skills at observation. Thus far no one else has noticed him, I haven't shared our private game with them. This one is for me.