I led the assault on the Illithid lair, with a prayer on my lips to the Great Black Lion that we would not join the same grim fate as so many else had. We gathered what forces we had left, as many disappeared after we took supper. After a stirring speech we marched in formation to the ruins.

We came upon a gate with an arcane lock, which Laya and the Acolyte children were able to dispel. It gladdens my heart that there are those who would learn the Arcane arts despite the warnings of the Risa Fey, for it is apparent that our enemies are well ahead of us in this venture. For these threats will not be defeated by blade alone.

After a closer inspection of the gate, an ornate wrought iron opening covering a cave-like entrance in a wall of stone, something seemed amiss. I could sense a powerful lingering arcane energy, and envisioned one of the ley lines that criss cross around all of Osterra leading directly to this passage.

This was not some mundane gate into a cave but a portal to an arcane ruin on some other part of Osterra! My mind raced with possibilities and I could tell that Laya and even the Acolytes also sensed the portent here.

The ruins may have had a name at some point, but it is lost to the ages. Was this a stronghold of the ancient order of mages that inhabited Osterra?

The walls and ceiling were ornate and seemed to tell a story, but we had no time to decipher them for our minds could be overtaken at any time. What secrets does that ruin hold? We may never know thanks to the destruction wrought by the Risa.

After a time of wandering through the darkness, our only light being that of the fairy fire summoned by the children, we came upon a foul chamber with a stinking pit full of slime. Beyond the pit we spotted a chest. Luckily the roots of a great tree had grown into the chamber providing access to the other side.

Rowan the Seer and a young warrior whose name I did not learn but told me he was of a royal family in another world; worked together to recover the chest. It was precarious, and the chest was nearly lost to the pit.

Inside the chest was what we sought, the missing piece of the Mind Shield scroll. Laya and the Acolytes began work deciphering it immediately. It was at this time that i felt an itch at the back of my mind, which quickly became an intense burning...