19 Flamerule 1502 D.R.

Following the unexpected and grueling attack upon the Syndicate, the assessors left behind a trail easy to follow. Led by Solia, a group of the highest-ranking members set forth to follow it: myself, Bri, and Vincel.

What we found was, frankly, too much even for us. The forces we discovered at fortress at the end of that path in the Graypeak Mountains were easily thrice those that had nearly overwhelmed the entire Syndicate: goblins and hobgoblins, bolstered not only by their infernal allies but by -- according to their garb -- the Zhentarim. It seems Orlak has remade his old alliances, for the time being at least.

We were forced to retreat for an undisclosed period of time to reevaluate and plan -- for we would surely never take that fortress without an army of our own. Infiltration, carefully planned, was the only way.

Fortunately, we had ideas. We had learned, months past, of ancient, sprawling Dwarven tunnels that spread beneath the land, which we suspected Orlak had also discovered and was using. With research and exploration, we were able to uncover a nearby entrance to those tunnels and, eventually, to make our way quietly within.

It was not long before we encountered guards -- devils, specifically. We were obliged to fight, but the battle was swift and quiet, and the devils raised no cry. Proceeding then through the network of tunnels, we found many prisoners and, at Solia's urging, set them free with what provisions we could spare to make their own way home.

Avoiding a deviously trapped door, we continued on, finding along the way some references to a fiendish "supervisor" who was visiting today for an inspection. We encountered her soon enough. She was not willing to talk productively, but while she put up little fight herself, her explosive minions wrought fiery havoc upon us all before we brought them down.

After resting and recuperating, we returned to disable the trapped door, as it was one of only two paths forward. It led to a veritable Rube Goldberg hallway (to reference the famed gnomish Artificer) of strange traps and pitfalls. We were able to negotiate them, however, and came at last to a stairway, which we ascended.

Previous intelligence had informed us that Orlak had allied himself not only with fiends, but with a dragon and a beholder. The latter awaited us up those stairs. He represented, as it turned out, the Zhentarim. He was willing to strike a bargain, but only under his own unacceptable terms, and when Bri's patience ran out and she ventured upon overt insult, hostilities naturally ensued. Alas; were it up to me, I would build better relations between the Syndicate and the other major mercenary band, but it was not to be, not this day at least. We did manage to learn from him that Orlak himself was "downstairs" -- referencing a second staircase behind him, but one blocked by a warded and difficult gate.

The beholder was a deadly threat, but through numbers and determination we overwhelmed him before his eye-beams could overwhelm us. We settled in to recover ourselves from the battle, and to find a way onward to Orlak himself -- but what followed is the subject for another note, as this one has run overlong already.

-- Yashir adh Rumahr

After the assault against the Syndicate, Yashir, Solia, Bri, and myself all followed the trail left by those who fled to an encampment unlike any I have seen before. The force we staved off a few days prior in the attack on the Syndicate was nothing in comparison the the army of goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, devils, and even Zhentarim that was stationed out in the Greypeak Mountains. Orlak seemed to have many friends and even stronger allies, as we all discussed possible ways of entry. Behind the army there was a Dwarven set of ruins, an archway that lead underground, which lead me to believe there might be another way in...

Which was easily found, thanks to my compatriots and their keen eyes. Avoiding the army outside and going down into the underground structure, we carefully made our way round... Bearded devils seemed to guard a set of doors, and again, we discussed what to do. Fortunately, the guards left, and we crept further down the hall. Only to run into those guards that patrolled down to the south. Dispatching of them quickly, I found an list of names, supposedly the supervisor was in for the day. The door to the west was... suspicious, so we headed south, discovering a few innocents that were held captive here.

Bri and Solia freed them, just as we were interrupted by this supposed supervisor. She started speaking to us, though, she fell rather quickly to a full on assault. Her allies, though, were another story, as they started to bombard us with fireballs. We managd to take them out, but it was not an easy task...

After a short rest, we carried on, coming across a different door. It was guarded by a ward, same as the door to the north, so Yashir managed to dispel it. However... we coudnt get in. There was no handle, and it seemed as though the door opened by a different mechanism. Going back up, we returned to the first door and made our way inside, only for a giant sawblade to extend from the wall. Rushing through, pillars began to collapse around us, and there were wards that I just barely noticed in my run. The entire hallway was riddled with these traps, and we managed to survive each of them...

At the ened of the hall there was a staircase, and we climbed it, only to be greeted by a beholder and friends. He was a high ranking member of the Zhentarim, and his main eye was a big problem... Antimagic. I stayed out of his sight as i tucked against the wall, and negotiations started. He seemed to want the book that Orlak had, which I figured was a reasonable request, though, the others said it was promised to a red wizard. These negotiations went nowhere, and eventually it came to blows. We just barely survived....

But, with the doorway activated, we could further venture into the bowels of this place, and kill Orlak.

19 Flamerule 1502 D.R.
Solia Faolanri

I can't believe it has escalated to this. One mistake - one godsbedamned choice that opened up a pathway to this nightmare that doesn't seem to ever want to end. It was nothing to follow the trail of attack and retreat back to the mountain keep where Orlak launched his assault from. What we found was a force so large and well armed that they could perpetuate two more attacks of equal severity against the Syndicate at any time. More siege engines, more troops, more everything.

They say this isn't my fault, and I know I only controlled a moment of this timeline but what I know of stories tells me that at some point the path we chose opened up to all of this and the lives lost along the way can't be reclaimed. I don't hold hope that we'll find the unaccounted-for halfling child. All I can do is look forward with clear eyes at my quarry and continue pursuit until he's dead.

Our idea to find another entrance to the dwarven tunnels they were couched in proved to be a good one. We made our way through old, forgotten spaces and dispatched a few more bearded devils. After exploring doorways and passages, we ended up coming across some sort of powerful fiend while the party took heavy hits from spellcraft. Finally, we found the Beholder we knew was somewhere within and tried to negotiate with them. They told us that Orlak isn't really the focus of all of this - he's merely got the Red Wizard's artifacts. They don't hold much loyalty to him other than the power he provides and their plan is to raze the whole of the Delimbyr and all the settlments along the way. We can't trade one evil for another... so we killed it.

For now, we regroup... and the next step lies ahead of us.