The Gorso Affair
📜 Entry: “First Impressions and Elemental Echoes”
Location: Giant’s Boots Tavern, Onadbyr
Recorded: During a full rest following events at the Gorso Estate
Another page of the master tome reveals itself—though, as of yet, I am unsure the ink has fully dried.
I entered the Gorso Estate neither by summons nor assignment, but by submitting to the irresistible tug of anomalous arcana. Whispers spoke of errant magical surges. Some blamed unstable ley lines or vengeful spirits while I suspected something far simpler—and far more reckless: the Gorso twins. Their reputation as dabblers in theoretical conjuration preceded them, and I feared their curiosity had outstripped their caution.
Upon arriving, I encountered a peculiar band of adventurers tasked with ridding the grounds of fearsome monsters. Their dynamic was... vibrant. The barbarian Clyde, towering and volatile, initially unsettled me—though I quickly recognized that his fury had purpose. The monk Ted bore the quiet presence of a temple bell—silent, yet resonant. Slick, the ever-observant ranger, missed nothing while Purrciful a rouge with noteworthy moral flexibility, displayed admirable precision. The sorcerer, Telly exuded raw power, barely sheathed. I made note to keep a wary watch of them all.
Movement through an upper window motivated us to enter the main house. As the others prepared their arms, I let the veil fall and truth shimmer forth:
“Let the veil fall, and truth shimmer forth.”
—Detect Magic (ritual, held in concentration)
What we found defied mundane explanation: portals to the Elemental Planes anchored in various rooms of the manor. Each one bleeding its planar essence, birthing lesser elementals and culminating in violent, chaotic guardians. We dispatched them, room by room.
My blessings steeled allies—“Faith shall lift your aim, and steady your soul”—and my healing words mended more than flesh. Yet I could not help but lament the limitations of my offensive offerings. Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead lacked conviction in the face of elemental fury.
The portals resisted us, providing no admittance to the Elemental realms. I attempted to unweave their structure with a cantrip of my own devising—Breaking. But it was the monk’s open hand, not my invocation, that finally shattered them.
In the penultimate battle—an airy chamber filled with deadly Dust Mephits—two of our companions fell. I felt it in my marrow, the dread of a battle tipping too far and I invoked what I had long kept sheathed:
Celestial Revelation: Necrotic Shroud
My form shifted, eyes darkened, wings of shadow fanned wide.
The elemental faltered—but so, too, did my allies. They looked upon me not with trust, but trepidation. This power... I must wield it sparingly.
Resting briefly, we continued on to face the final portal. It was a fierce encounter, but we prevailed.
We returned to the Giant’s Boots Tavern, reporting the estate cleared. The Gorsos were gracious—perhaps too much so. They rewarded us each with a magic item. I received the Amulet of the Devout, which now rests beside the scroll of the Wise One at my neck.
And yet... I am unsettled; Questions remain unanswered.
Why did they flee? Why tamper with forces so volatile? One of my new companions suggested their absence was not an evasion of reprimand but of failure—that the plan, whatever it was, had unraveled beyond repair. If so, what lies behind them may prove even more dangerous.
As ever, I intend to learn more.
May clarity walk with me.
— A.J.