Previously in Brenlyns Journal...

I believe we are all still taking in what it really going on, this is no easy task that Eldath has sent us to do. Those who worship Eldath were given symbols on their hands.

Olin was almost brought to death due to a bite wound on his throat but I was able to just barely stabilize him with my cure wounds spell. Diero sliced the last wolf completely in half!

It is about 4 hours into our trip. Diero has just whistled for us to stop, he hears something up ahead. Our blades are drawn, it is inevitable that the time has come for another battle...

RATS!

6 foot rats have stopped us in our tracks, they were hidden in the bushes. One of our horses was bitten, he has fallen.

He noticed a mark on these men which proved to us that they were in fact worshipers of Cryick , these "thieves" were not here to steal, they were here on mission to kill. To not causes any mass hysteria to this quiet Inn, we take the bodies and quickly leave this town.

If you are just now joining in on your very first look into Brenlyns Journal, prepare yourself. This journal is no ordinary place. Instead, you are about to enter into an epic fantasy battle that will have you wanting to read more and more...

Every single thing written inside of these books were taken from an adventurous game played in real life. The game of Dungeons & Dragons is a world you enter that allows your imagination to run wild and free. D&D is a fantasy tabletop role playing game (RPG), each game or "campaign" has a Dungeon Master (DM) who tells the adventure and guides the players. The players then use their imagination to make choices in the game, fight battles and gather treasures. It isn't a board game and it isn't a card game. There are character sheets that help you create your character. The choices in the game are heavily decided by the rolling of dice. Typically every action that you take, every battle that you fight, is first decided by rolling a d20. Your fate in the game can quickly change by one single roll.

To get up to speed on Brenlyn, you can read her journey from the very beginning. I really encourage you all to read the others because it will help you to understand this next part of her journal on a deeper level. It will also help to open your imagination and completely get a feel for my character Brenlyn Manoa. Brenlyn has an incredible backstory written completely by me. In this backstory you will understand what life was like for my character while growing up with her mother (Sheera) being a human and her father (Illithor) being an elf. Eldath the Goddess of peace, has chosen Brenlyn along with a very select few, to go on an adventure. An adventure with a very important quest. This journey will not be easy though, there are others on this quest as well.

She is to use her divine energy to survive while searching for a holy item which is said to be buried somewhere in an ancient tomb. This is where Brenlyns adventure begins, when she finally after 30 years fulfills her life purpose. She places her pendent, her holy symbol for Eldath, around her neck and she whispers goodbye to her safe space...

To read the entire backstory of Brenlyn Monoa, please click here.

Brenlyn then started her journey with Diero, Olin and Varius. The other three players are played by my husband, who happens to also be the DM in this campaign. In Part 2 - The Battle Begins you can read about each and every move made in the game so far which has led them into this newest part of Brenlyns Journal. This quest is not easy for those chosen by Eldath because there are others who worship different Gods, in route for these holy items as well. One in particular that this group has been challenged by is those who worship Cryick the God of lies. They also have to worry about the creatures roaming the world they live in, creatures trying to take their lives. So far they have battled wolves, 6ft rats and a couple of men who worship Cryick.

In Part 2, you can also read the history of Thornes Temple and what happened to this planet Kortana that has made is this way. You will read about the war of the first & the war of the last. This is the battle between the Gods which lasted 128 years.

There are four items infused with Thornes soul, which is what Brenlyn is on her journey to find.

To read the beginning of the battle and to learn about the war of Gods, please click here.

I now invite you to please join me as we enter directly into

Brenlyns Journel

Thursday night

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We have made it out of Whispers Inn without anyone noticing. Varius looted the bodies of those belonging to Cryick and the bodies were then disposed of. With my knee now wounded and Olin still healing, we have made a camp deep into the woods. Before stepping out of the wagon to take watch, Diero has kindly given me some of his special incense which will better help me to connect with Eldath during prayer by heightening my senses. If I pray 6 times a day, these incense should last me a week. My knee is slightly sore, I have used some of my bandages but luckily we have plenty left. Varius has went to help Olin in the other wagon. Olin is still weak from the attack with the wolves but he should regain full health by tomorrow morning. It is now around 2am and it's time for rest.

Friday

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We are about a mile from Bronetown, headed to Prudenze. This town is a very special place because it is the official tech mining center. Due to the war with the Gods, there has been some advanced technology seen floating around Kortana. Prudenze is said to be the home base for all technology. This town is where they have been rediscovering old technology to enhance life. During the war, not one single brick was harmed or damaged there. Apparently it is blessed by a Goddess. Prudenze is the birthplace of the artificer, first gun slinger. This is said the be where you can find firearm made from magic and technology. This town is the only one with the full understanding of explosives. It is certainly a place we need to see inside of. There is just one problem though, the military keeps a very close watch of the perimeters inside and out. There are always other entities trying to break in and steal.

10am - We are now going to eat and prepare for our journey to continue heading South.

12pm- We seem to have come into some very dense fog fairly quickly. For the last hour or so we have seen the animals out to play and seen your everyday normal passer byers. Now...now it is very eerie around here. There isn't a single bird chirping, not one squirrel jumping in the trees and not any sight of a person. This can't be a good sign.

1pm- Just like that we suddenly heard this chatter and a faint mischievous laughter all around us. In front, behind and from each side, it was everywhere. I was able to record a small piece of it and this is what we heard...

At this point it was up to the d20 to reveal our fate when it came to this sound. I rolled a 10, which left me feeling very confused and lost. Olin felt the same as me. We were not even slightly frightened, just very confused. This laughter had left us into some form of a trance. After a second roll, the trance was broken.

That's right, I knew just then exactly what the sound was. They were Pixies!

With their innate power of invisibility, pixies rarely appear unless they wish to be seen. In the Feywild and on the Material Plane, pixies etch patterns of frost on winter ponds and rouse the buds in springtime. They cause flowers to sparkle with summer dew, and colour the leaves with the blazing hues of autumn.

Tiny Trickster

While the arrival of visitors piques their curiosity, pixies are too shy to reveal themselves at first. They study the visitors from afar to gauge their temperament or play harmless tricks on them to measure their reactions. For example, pixies might tie a dwarf's boot together, create illusions of strange creatures or treasures, or use dancing lights to lead interlopers astray. If the visitors respond with hostility, the pixies give them a wide berth. If the visitors are good natured, the pixies are likely to be emboldened and more friendly. The fey might even emerge and offer to guide their "guests" along a safe route or invite them to a tiny yet satisfying feast prepared in their honor. The same is true for an adventuring Pixie though they might be more bold than one who has not chosen that path.

Suddenly the cart comes to a complete stop. The horses began to neigh as they use every muscle in their body to pull the cart. It just won't budge. Varius gets out to check and see what is causing this to happen. That is when he notices that oddly enough, there is a branch going straight in between both front wheels, stopping the cart from any movement. Just then we see Varius very quickly fall straight back. He had gone into this deep sleep and was snoring very loudly. That's when we heard lots of giggles all over again. Just like that, we heard a poof in the other cart, as if nothing had ever happened we heard Olin begin to snore loudly as well.

Great. "He just healed", I thought to myself. Diero and I were the only two left awake i'm assuming because we both do not anger easily, something the pixies look out for. Then it happened, four pixies let their location be known to us. Not completely though, we could only see a flash of light where the pixies where located. I decided to flip one of my gold pieces, hoping to draw attention. The coin disappears in the air! All four of them laugh hysterically. We see this light trail of a sparkle followed by this beautiful magical noise. The coin then bounces off Dierios head.

Deiro shouts, "Show yourself! Please come out". It was my turn to try next. I used my thaumaturgy spell and I chose to mimic their giggle, exactly like them. In the blink of an eye, 2 magical Pixies come within arms reach in awe of me. The other two show themselves and they are gracefully braiding the horses mane. There was one Pixie that was particularly nice to me. She spoke very shyly, "How did you laugh like us?"

Thaumaturgy spell- Manifest a minor wonder, sign of supernatural within range.

Nervously I said, "Well, I'm on a quest right now sent from my Goddess Eldath."

With a giggle she says, "Okay...but how did you laugh like us?"

"Oh right, I'm a cleric so that means I can perform spells. I learned a lot at Thornes Temple.", I finally answered.

The Pixie acted as if she had completely forgot this conversation because I notice her staring at my pendant, admiring it. Just as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. She doesn't say a word but she picks up her pendant that was hanging proudly around her neck. It was an acorn with some form of engraving on it. I smile from ear to ear and tell her how much I loved her pendant. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I take advantage of this moment and tell her and the others that I am on a quest searching for infused items. I would really appreciate any knowledge of these items, if they know anthony of them. I also mentioned Cryrick. Just then everything goes black. For a moment I can see a hint of light. I see the friendly pixie whisper, "I'm sorry".

I woke up very confused. The time I was out is unknown. I did notice a parchment on my chest. Upon opening, I seen this note;

We are sorry.

-Bryne, Arulia, Antia, Johvia

Inside I also see a map, it leads directly to their pixie residence. They left a note with the map. It read;

We will await YOUR return on the second moon of this month. Be safe, child of the woodlands. Do not forget!

In the very bottom corner it read;

I love your pendant!

At that moment I magically seen an acorn pendant with Brenlyn etched in on the back, appear in my hands. I take a piece of rope from my bag and make a necklace.

I may not make it through this quest. If that does happen, I do hope that this journal can long live on. Let these words and these images long live on so that all beings can see Kortana through the eyes of one directly chosen by the infamous Eldath.

4pm- I noticed Diero is still out. I move him into the cart and keep moving. Once he awakes, when asked if he has knowledge on the map, he denies.

6pm-Varius wakes up.
7pm-Olin wakes up.

As we were traveling we eventually noticed that we had somehow managed to vear off of our path, shortly in front of us there is a break in the path. It's a stream and there is no bridge. There were a few options that we could do:

A-Try our luck across
B-Build something
C-Turn around
D-Use a spell

We all decided that it would be best if we used our resources at hand to build a ramp. We gathered debris and any other items that would help. After a while, the ramp was finished. We crossed our fingers and hoped that the horses and the cart would make it across. One of the horses had a little trouble so Olin and Diero decided to jump out and help the horse cross. We made it about 1/2 up when we hear a loud pop! The ramp had started to give out and the cart was shaking. Olin, Varuis and and Diero try the their best to help but it just wasn't working. It was up to me.

I rolled a d20 to see how much I would be able to help the cart and the horses. I rolled a 5, so no luck.

None of us were strong enough to life the cart up and with our best efforts given, unfortunately the left rear had fallen off the ramp, it shattered the wheel. Diero lets go and the cart falls making a loud echo noise into the woods. Diero and Varius work on repairing the wheel while Olin and myself keep watch.

9:30pm-About 30 minutes into the fall, Varius hears some rustling in the woods. Olin walked in front of the wagon with his weapon drawn, right where the noise was coming from. Just then the trees opened up, out flew a swarm of angry blue wasp. They were about 4in each and through research we had known that they are full poison.

Diero yells out, "Use fire, it kills them fast!!" The swarm moves in on the horses. They sting one horse leaving it with 10 damage. We know that the horse can't handle much more of the poison. Vaius took the suggestion of using fire and used his sacred flames spell.

Using a 1d8 to check for the damage done to the swarm of wasp, my husband rolled an 8

The spell worked like a charm. Over 1/3 of the wasp were killed off with flames. I tried next and decided to use my sacred flames as well.

Sacred flames spell- Flame like radiance descends on a creature that you cans see within range. The target must succeed on a dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 radiant damage.

Rolling a d20 to see if I missed or hit, I rolled a 4.

I missed, but I did burn Olin in the back with a piece of the flame, it caused 2 damage. Diero rushes over to the horse and gives him +5 healing to reverse the effect of the poison. The swarm takes advantage of Diero being distracted and attacks him. He takes 5 damage and now has slight poison. Varius cast sacred flames again and missed. Olin attempted to swat the rest away and missed. Finally I was able to try out the sacred flames for a second time.

I rolled a d20 to see if I hit and a d8 to check the damage done. I rolled a 18 and 8

I hit them! The remaining of the swarm blast away, any stragglers left around buzzed off in fear. Diero immediately begins to heal himself with a spell.

9:35pm- Varius heals the horse and takes out all of the stinger that had been left behind. He also made a handmade paste to heal the wounds. Varius had assigned me to collect thorax (venum sac) from the wasp that way we can use it in future. Olin gets the brace made for the ramp and the wheel finished. We lift up the back of the ramp to brace it and with Dieros final push, we made it up the ramp.

10:35pm- We've not been on the road long but up ahead there seems to be a light beaming from the woods, it appears to be some form of camp. We decided to set up our own camp right off of the main path. I took a moment for prayer to Eldath and asked for a clear sign or premonition of what our immediate future would bring.

I rolled a d20 to see if she would give a sign. I rolled a 3.

She did not give me a sign. Vaius, Olin and Diero also asked for a sign. She didn't answer any of us. Varius decided to craft a poison that we could use as a weapon from the thorax I collected. Diero went over to do maintenance on the weapons and armor. I decided to eat 2 rations and take a walk in the woods, keeping close by of course. I found a few useful things while out;

wild berries
plants used for healing
1 dozen strong limbs (makes exceptional arrows)

I heard a noise behind me, thinking maybe I would have to battle something all alone. My heart raced as I slowly walked towards the noise. Out crawled this little racoon, sniffing the ground and stopping in its tracks once I was noticed. I figured I would have a little fun and do a quick jump and yell "BOO" at the racoon to scare it off. It ran off...doing a little racoon growl on its way out.

I went back to the camp after that. I gave the sticks to Diero for the weapons, the plants to Varius for his crafting and offered Olin some berries. He declined because he had already eaten his rations so we stored the rest of the berries.

Friday

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6:30am- We are on our path to Perdenze, everything seems to be going very smoothly.

10:30am - After a few hours of travel we have finally seen some sign of life. We rode right past an Elf Logging camp. It was tempting to stop but we must proceed down the path.

2pm - Finally, we have started to see the sign that our destination is nearish.

Just like that our path has started see some trouble. Luckily it wasn't too bad. There were about 7 very large Elk, I would say they were about 150 lbs or more, that have ran directly in front of us. They busted right through the path almost causing our horse to lose balance. We also just passed the weirdest looking things. All around us there are these extremely tall red wood trees. One certain spot in our path had 4 large cocoons hanging from the trees. Each one had withered carcass in them...

6pm- We have decided to stop and pray to Eldath. Praying is very important and is also required by our Goddess. We must never forget to pray. The horses have been watered and rations have been eaten. There had to be a vote which decided if we stayed to rest more or continued. Diero and myself voted to keep going, Olin and Varius voted to stay. Varius then convinced Diero to change his vote which meant we were staying. We decided to all pray again but this time with incense to heighten our senses. Diero went and grabbed a few items for us to start a fire. Varius is reading up on Predenze and Olin has joined me in checking to be sure everything is ready for the rest of our journey.

8pm- It is just about dark. I am sitting by the fire eating my rations. Varius is eating in the cart and Olin is checking on our makeshift wheel one last time.

8:30pm- Everything seemed normal until Olin asked, "What is that?" He smelled something, he followed the smell to the edge of the woods. After he was about 16 yards into the woods he yelled, "THE WOODS ARE ON FIRE!"

Suddenly we heard crackling all around us. At that moment we heard the whizzing sound of arrows. Diero dropped onto his back with an arrow sticking out of his chest. I ran over to check on him and Varius snaps the arrow at the base, leaving the rest for us to get once we get to safety. We knew then that we were being ambushed.

We could hear the sound of a giant wild boar and something else walking along with it. The other creature was speaking in a foreign language. He had a very raspy voice. Olin then informs us that he can recognize the language, it is the sound of a Hobgoblin.

There was the sound of at least 2 boar and on each side of the boar we could hear their handler (hobgoblin). They quickly approached us, the handlers let their boars lose and they drew their bow. It was my turn first, I used my Guiding Bolt. The bolt shoots through both of the boars, painfully blinding them for 6 turns. Olin drew his bow and moved up closer so that he was out of the woods. That was when three more of the wicked Hobgoblins came out of nowhere. Two other boars sped up as they run towards us, we also heard two other creatures approaching. Diero took another hit right after that, he was hit with a Hobgoblins Javelin. Varius cast his Eldrick Blast. A beam of light hits one of the boars head, temporarily blinding it.

Guiding Bolt- Flash of light streaks toward a creature. Make a ranged spell attack against target. On a hit, target takes 4d6 radiant damage, and the next attack roll made against this target before the end of your turn has advantage.

Eldrick Blast- Make a ranged spell attack. On hit, the target takes 1d10 force damage.

As if we didn't have enough of a battle, another Hobgoblin is heard approaching us. Diero pulls out the Javelin and stands up, he magically laid hands on himself and with the luck of the dice, healed his wounds. As he was using his magic, we could see the arrow push itself out from his body. Diero received +10 health. I was hit shortly after that by the boar handler. I was hit in the left arm, giving me a -2 damage. I pulled out my light crossbow after that.

---

I rolled a d20 to determine if I hit my target, my roll was 20. I then rolled a d8 to determine the damage and I rolled an 8.

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I shot one of the Hobgoblins directly in the eye. In fact, it shot through his eye and killed him instantly. One of them shot back at me, luckily he missed. Olin takes a turn and hits one of them, knocking him off his feet and straight onto his back. One of the creatures tries to fire at Olin. Olin very gracefully hits the arrow with his armor, it bounces right off of it. Varius decided to try out his Witch Bolt spell. A constant stream of lightning came flowing out of his hands onto a boar. Diero just can't seem to catch a break. He was hit for a third time with an arrow in his back. This time receiving a -8 damage. With the arrow still in his back, Diero swings his great sword at one of the blind bore. Olin had drawn his morning star and hits the final blow, caving in the bores skull.

Witch Bolt- Make a ranged spell attack against a creature you can see. On a hit, the target takes 1d12 lightning damage, and on your turn, you can use your action to deal 1d12 lightning damage to the target. The spell ends if you use your action to do anything else. The spell also ends if the target is ever outside the spell's range or if it has total cover from you.

Varius was still in a trance, holding his Witch Bolt onto the bore. There was a bittersweet moment, one of the Hobgoblins went to shoot at Olin but missed, hitting one of the other Hobgoblins giving him a -4 damage. Olin got hit across his chest with a crossbow, slicing it wide open. This gave him a -10 damage. A hobgoblin goes to swing next and misses, causing him to lose his footing a bit. A boar then mauls Diero, giving him a -8 damage. Olin swings a mace at the Hobgoblin which killed him. That left us with 5 more creatures and 3 boar. A bore runs very fast by me and also very close. So close that I could feel him slightly as he ran by.

Diero was then hit yet again. This time by the captain and his long sword. He received -7 damage due to the wound on his right hip. This time he dropped. Varius finally ends his spell, the lightning had basically cooked the pig. The pig dropped over and his body disappears as the ashes got swept away with the wind. Diero cast a Cure Wounds on himself. This gave him +10 hit points. I tried to use my inflict wounds but it didn't work. It only knocked me off balance and did nothing else. Olin cast his shield of faith, as he finished this spell a shimmering force field was all around him. He hits the front of the skull on one of the Hobgoblins, ripping his neck open.

Cure wounds spell- a creature you touch regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your spell casting ability modifier, no effect on undead.

One of the handlers swings at me, thankfully missing me. He swings on Varius and deals double damage to him as his long swords lodges into the ribs of Varius. Varius still has enough strength to fight though. He hits a hobgoblin in the torso causing it to burst open. Bloods and guts flew everywhere in the air, almost like an explosion. Diero hit the captain handler from behind with an arrow. The Hobgoblin light out a screeching cry as the arrow stuck out from his back. I used my Inflict Wounds again. This time hitting for 16 damage. The Hobgoblins skull suddenly body rotted, it traveled down his neck and through his entire body. He dropped his great sword as his ashes also drifted away in the wind.

Inflict Wounds- Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 necrotic damage.

Olin hits one of the Hobgoblins across his legs. As the handler falls, Olin takes a swing across his skull. Just at that moment a boar charged into me. It knocked me unconscious as I was being dragged down the path. This caused -18 damage. One of the Hobgoblins then takes one of the arrows out of his back that he had been hit with, he throws it directly at Diero. Varius was guided to use his cure wounds spell on me. This gave me +11 hit points. Diero found the strength to slice the head off one of the handlers. At the same time, I used inflict wounds on one of the boars. I was still on the ground but was able to grab onto one of them, instantly shriveling him into ashes.

One Hobgoblin was hit in the neck causing him to fall face first into the road. Diero sliced the head off one of the boars. At this point we only had one more bore to finish off. The boar wanted revenge after that because he gorged Diero in the stomach with a tusk. Deiro was now very close to death. I used my sacred flames causing double damage. This caused a -12 damage which killed the final bore.

8:45 pm - This battle happened very quickly. We were very exhausted and sore after this but right after the battle we did notice something strange. Down the road a little bit, near the fire, there was a cloaked figure with bright red eyes. We could tell he was watching us, probably through the entire battle. Just as quickly as we noticed him, he turned and what seemed like to us, disappeared.

I used my spare the dying on Diero, this stabilized him. We decided to loot the boars. This is what we gathered;

57 lbs of pork related products
16 hooves
8 ears
8 eyes
8 tusk
4 handler chains and harness

Spare The Dying- Touch a living creature that has 0 hit points. The creature becomes stable.

We gathered a lot off each Hobgoblin when we looted them. Here are a few items that we gathered from them;

long sword
longbow
5 arrows
shortbow
4 platinum pieces
leather armor
3 daggers
large shield
53 gold pieces

We also found a days worth of rations. It isn't our typical food but it will do when we are truly in need. We did find some engraved bone dice in a pouch on a Hobgoblin. We don't know much about them just yet but Varius is going to research them. On the captain we did found some interesting stuff. We found;

1/2 plate armor
very exceptional quality greatsword
2 javelins
pouch with hematite inside

The pouch has an elvish writing on it but we unfortunately cannot read it since it was written far before our time. We found a backpack near the battle site, its contents had been scattered around. There was a jeweled dagger that we found, a leather pouch with 300 gold pieces and it also contained a note. We found 5 pendants lying around which were tributes to their God. Two platinum fangs which must have fallen from a Hobgoblin during battle were found by Olin. Finally we decided to take whatever clothes we could find. We gathered:

8 pair of boots
5 pairs of gloves
8 pieces of damaged shirts and pants

Each one of us had decided to drink a healing potion. To determine our renewed hit points, we must roll 2 d4 and add +2. I rolled a 3 and 1, this gave me +6 hit points. I ended the night with 16 hit points total, after a long rest we should all be well healed.

This is what the note said that we found on a Hobgoblin;

You truly believe the Goddess loves you?
Fools...
You are merely instruments. Expendable.
You fared well...tis a shame your minds are dedicated to the wrong deities...
We are all instruments, you will come to see.
Your purpose will come to light once you realize the only path to walk is shrouded in darkness.
We shall meet soon. You will finally meet your Goddess when we do.

Farewell, my friends. Until we meet again.

to be continued...

Brenlyns journal and journey both still have very many places to take our imagination. It is a wild and fun game, I have been honored to bring it all together for each of you to enjoy. I hope you were pleased with looking directly into Brenlyns journal.